Lack of practice doesn’t hurt Wave

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Monday, September 8, 2008

NATCHEZ — Cathedral coach Craig Beesley was a little worried about the lack of practice time outdoors coming into the Green Wave’s game against Salem last Friday, especially the passing game.

It turned out, that thanks to quarterback Preston Edwards, he had nothing to worry about.

Edwards threw for 204 yards and a touchdown, despite the wet conditions due to Hurricane Gustav in Cathedral’s 16-14 win.

“We had a few dropped balls that I wish we could have brought in, but he had a pretty good average for reception,” Beesley said. “We didn’t get much time to practice due to the weather, but we knew Preston had the arm and ability to throw.”

Beesley also liked what he saw in the ground game, which was able to control the clock in the last four minutes after Salem scored to bring the Wildcats within two points of the Green Wave.

They got enough first downs to run out the clock and preserve the victory.

“Right after [Salem] scored to close the game within two points, we huddled them up

and told them it was on their shoulders,” Beesley said. “It was a good confidence boost in terms of running the ball. We’ve had two good games of running the ball, and that can’t do much but help us in the future.”

Now Cathedral travels to Pelahatchie to take on the Chiefs, a team that is 1-1 after a tough overtime loss to Bogue Chitto last week.

“They are a tough opponent,” Beesley said. “But we’re on a little roll here, and we hope we can keep it going.”

While Beesley is pleased with the way his team is performing, Ferriday coach Freddie Harrison knows his team can get better, even after a 38-0 win over Madison to open the season on Friday.

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” Harrison said. “We’ve got a lot of individuals right now who are being selfish and need to buy into the program. I want that message to get out there.”

Harrison was pleased with the performance of quarterback Rodney Lawson, who was 4-for-5 throwing the ball for 125 yards and a touchdown in his first career start at quarterback.

“He managed the game well and didn’t force the football,” Harrison said. “He didn’t have a lot of opportunities to throw, but he took advantage of every opportunity he got to make the team successful. I’m real pleased with his play.”

Ferriday will host Block this week in what will be the Bears’ opening game of the season, after last week’s contest against Vidalia was canceled due to Hurricane Gustav.

“We know (Block) is a well-coached and disciplined football team,” Harrison said. “Coach (Benny) Vault has got their numbers up and got that program headed in the right direction. We have to make sure we’re prepared to play.”

Franklin County will also face a tough opponent on Friday night when Charleston pays a visit to Meadville.

“We’ve only got one of the toughest teams in Mississippi coming in this week,” Franklin County coach Trent Hammond said. “When you look at 3A football, you think of Charleston, South Pike, Tylertown and Louisville. We’ve got one of them this week and we’ll see two of the other three in a little while.”

In order for Franklin County to take a victory, the defense must continue to play as they have the first two weeks.

Franklin County has allowed just six points in each of the first two games, and the Bulldogs scored three defensive touchdowns in their 35-6 win over McComb Friday.

“Our defense had given up just 58-yards through three quarters when we pulled the first string out,” Hammond said. “That’s a big thing when you can do that. It doesn’t matter what level you play on, pee wee or NFL, teams that are good on defense are hard to beat.”

Hammond said the offense will need to improve in order to keep winning.

“In between the 20s we’re pretty good, but once we get inside the 20 we seem to lose focus and don’t finish the deal,” Hammond said. “If I knew what was wrong we wouldn’t be doing it.”

Wilkinson County felt the major affect of Gustav, but traveled up to Newton anyway and almost pulled out a victory.

They score a touchdown in the final seconds, but missed on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game and lost 20-18.

“We made some major mistakes in the game,” Wildcat coach Elbert Lyles said. “We’ve got to minimize that in order to get some wins. We’re still harping on it. We had several turnovers we’re going to have to correct.”

The Wildcats schedule doesn’t get any easier as they play Natchez this week.

“It’s not going to get any better as far as the competition level,” Lyles said. “We’ll try to prepare the best we can and put in a decent performance.”