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photo by Marcus Frazier
Natchez High School defensive back Ernest Jones takes down Brandon High School’s Seth Power Friday night. The Bulldogs won 41-28.
Big plays key Natchez's victory over Brandon
Published Saturday, October 11, 2008
NATCHEZ — It’s been a while since Keith Dee has run with the football. Eighth grade to be exact.
Back then, he was a running back, before he filled out to 6-feet tall and 284 pounds and was turned into a defensive lineman for Natchez High.
But Friday night he put his running skills to the test just when the Bulldogs needed them most.
With Natchez (3-3, 1-2) clinging to a 27-20 lead over Brandon (3-4, 1-2) with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Keith Dee intercepted a screen pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown for the clinching points in what would eventually become a 41-28 Region 3-5A victory.
The big lineman showed off some moves in his jaunt to pay dirt, cutting back across the field to avoid the final defender and setting off a wild celebration among the Bulldog players and coaches.
“I guess I learned those moves in the eighth grade,” Dee said. “I wasn’t as big back then.”
Natchez High coach Lance Reed had a bit of a different take on it.
“We can’t even get him to run that far in practice,” Reed joked. “That was great. It’s a joy to see the kids do good things. I’m very happy for him.”
It was a critical victory for Natchez, as they avoided going 0-3 in region play. The Bulldogs have four region games remaining and need to win at least three of them for a chance at the playoffs.
Dee’s interception return might have been the final big play of the night, but it was far from the only one.
It took several big plays to keep Natchez’s season from drifting so far off course that the playoffs would be out of the question.
Big play No. 1: Natchez looked to have no momentum after Brandon had come back from down 14-0 to tie the score early in the third quarter.
That’s when senior receiver Rico Richardson stepped to the forefront.
Richardson took a handoff on a sweep around the left end, cut back across the field and out-raced the defense for a 74-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead after Charell Carter’s extra point with 1:29 left in the third quarter.
Big play No. 2: After Natchez’s touchdown, Brandon stormed right back down the field, quickly scoring a touchdown on a 7-yard run by Patrick Durr.
However, Zack Evans reached up and blocked Brandon’s extra point attempt to keep Natchez in the lead.
“That was a big play as far as momentum was concerned,” Reed said. “We’re front-runners. When things are good we’re tough to handle, but we struggle overcoming bad times. That block kept us in the lead and helped us continue to play hard.”
Big play No. 3 was actually a series of plays — running plays to be exact.
Up by a point, Natchez went on a time-consuming, run-oriented drive.
Quarterback Javon Washington, who had thrown the ball 17 times in the first half, only threw it twice on the drive, and both were completions.
The drive ended when Joel Davis took an option pitch and powered his way into the end zone from 3 yards out with 5:22 left to give Natchez a 27-20 lead.
Reed said it was important for Natchez to establish the run in the second half after not being able to do anything on the ground in the first 24 minutes.
“We definitely want to run the ball,” Reed said. “We got a feel of what the Brandon defense was doing, and we were able to pop a couple of big runs.”
After Dee’s interception return gave Natchez a 34-20 lead, the Bulldog defense forced Brandon to turn the ball over on downs, and Davis would turn in the final big play of the night.
The junior got his second touchdown run of the quarter when he tore through the line for 37 yards with just 37 seconds left in the game.
Durr would make the final score more respectable when he broke loose for an 87-yard touchdown run for Brandon with 11 seconds left, but by that time, the Bulldogs were already celebrating a huge region victory.
“This was a big win, but we’ve still got to get four more to reach our goal,” Dee said.
And the Bulldogs are apparently ready to get those wins.
After the game, Reed told the team he was going to give them today off from practicing as a reward, but the players said they wanted to practice today.
It’s amazing how one win — and five big plays — can turn a season, and a team’s attitude, completely around.
Comments
Posted by dog8 (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 7:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Proud of you Natchez High. Take the rest of the season one game at a time and things will work out.
Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Way to go Dawgs!
Posted by TRON601 (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This was a must win game Bulldogs and surprisingly, I gave this game some thought and figured you would pull it off. But aside from that, its great you were able to put yourselves in the win column again. Lets not dwell on this one and get back to good practices.
Coaching Staff: Dont forget that Brandon put up 28 points, so where is the room for a day off? I sure dont hear about Franklin County taking a day off each time they win. And definitely dont underestimate the teams the Bulldogs have left on the schedule. Jim Hill, Terry, Wingfield, and last but not least Hattiesburg. All four of these teams can surprise you in case you havent learned already. I would definitely not underestimate the Terry Bulldogs since Natchez only won by one point last year. You blew out Jim Hill and held on against Wingfield. I definitely dont remember us ever beating Hattiesburg except the last time Natchez went to the playoffs (1997). You should get tired of finishing at .500 each year at Natchez . That record dont get you in the playoffs very often. All in all, good luck next week. I recommend not taking days off for winning. Who does that anyway? Good job Dawgs. Im not knocking the hustle or the efforts here.
Posted by fightingthebattle (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tron,
You sir are an ass not everyone does 6 day weeks in high school, most only do five. I believe the only reason that you even support the team is because of your brother, I think you only want him to do good no matter what the team does. You can keep your fair- weatherness(prob no a word). You know what I mean. If you know so much about coaching get your teaching stuff in order and coach. If you gonna be on the side of the team do that, but don't wait until your brother graduates and become the number one hater, NHS has enough of that( some is deserving).
Posted by foghornleghorn (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
FC takes one day off and that is Saturday. If you want to be big time, you have got to pay the price. High school football is very competitive if you want to win. If you want to be second rate, then take off all the time you want to. Tron is usually full of hot air, but he is right on the money on this.
Posted by fightingthebattle (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If i'm not mistaken the NHS staff works 7 days a week and the team 6 days.
Posted by diamondlady (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 1:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
cant we all just get along, congrats Bulldogs!!!
Posted by TRON601 (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 9:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
fightingthebattle: Those are strong words sir, but you gets no respect from me here. Call me what you want. And yes, Im behind my brother 100%. Do you even know me enough to tell me how and what I should do for a living? And if you must know, I've been following and supporting Natchez High since I graduated from there and nothing will change that no matter who plays for them and how far down the road that is. Home is home to me, my friend. Does that mean I care any less about the rest of the kids that play for Natchez, or about who will play for them in the future? No. I will still be on Natchez's sidelines long after my brother to whom you refer graduates. Why do I hipe my brother so much? Because I believe he's 10 times the better athlete than I was and I am very well proud of him. Bottom line, giving 100% pays off. When you work hard with a winner's mindset, it shows. And like I said before Im not taking anything from these kids. If anything, if I wasnt rooting for them and supporting them so much, I wouldnt have my happy a## on here every week leaving comments and following the games. Tell me one negative comment I've left about the Natchez Bulldogs thus far. If you think what I wrote above this posting is negative, then it might be you who doesnt need to be following football. Call it what you want.
Posted by TRON601 (anonymous) on October 11, 2008 at 9:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
to foghornleghorn: Its nice to know you think Im full of hot air at times. Well, Im not go knock that because everybody has their opinions. I seem to tick people off one here. Well, even so, life goes on. And as long as football goes, so will I. See yall next week on the post.
Posted by pride (anonymous) on October 12, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Foghornleghorn the only bigtime football program in MS is located in South Panola . They have a history of playing great HS football programs outside of the state . They are also ranked nationally every year . And routinely will beat the brakes off of most opponents . Is FC the bigtime football program you are referencing ? Are they ranked nationally ? Do they play teams from Florida or Georgia or any top team outside of MS ? Let us know what bigtime you are talking about ?
Posted by foghornleghorn (anonymous) on October 13, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Pride: FC is big time in the sense that they have won a state championship and played for another in the last two years. Name just one other school in this area that has done that. If a program does not consider itself bigtime, then they are just showing up on Friday night with no goals to win it all.
Posted by foghornleghorn (anonymous) on October 13, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pride: SP is an exception related to football in Miss. FC is not SP and never will be. But they are a BIGTIME 3 A program. It started in 02 with Anthony Hart and continues with Trent Hammond. Before then from 1978-2001, there was no pressure to win. They had some decent years and even made it to the championship game in 94. They played simply on the skill that was there. There was no consistent weight program, and there was no motivation for the players to get better, and there was also no motivation for the coaches to put a better team on the field. The coaches did what they thougth was okay but at some point the game passed them by because winning football teams were working hard year round and FC was not. Also, bigtime does not mean you win every year. It means that you are doing everything it takes to win every year. FC has had a good run of exceptional players since 02. In a small school, those runs of good players run in cycles and FC is probably on the down trend after this year. But they will still be big time if they work hard year round.
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