photo by Ben Hillyer

Santorius Pollard cuts past two Hazlehurst defenders Friday in the Bulldogs’ spring football scrimmage against the Indians. The teams tied 12-12 in two quarters of football.

Natchez ends spring season with tie in scrimmage

By Krysten Oliphant (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Saturday, May 16, 2009

NATCHEZ — The Natchez High football team put on pads and stepped onto the field a little bit early this year.

The Bulldogs played against Hazlehurst in a spring scrimmage Friday, tying the Indians 12-12 in two quarters of play.

The scrimmage was a chance for the Bulldogs to put into real time everything they’ve learned in practice the past three weeks and for the coaches to see what adjustments need to be made over the summer.

“We had a lot of new faces out there on the field trying to feel out the process of competing,” Natchez High coach Lance Reed said. “There’s a lot of stuff to improve on — thank God it’s spring.”

While Reed made jokes about the end of the game, there were quite a few bright spots in the scrimmage.

Natchez High’s defense forced two turnovers on fourth down, two punts and two fumbles, and the Bulldogs stopped two two-point conversion attempts.

The Bulldogs also picked off three long Hazlehurst passes.

Brian Isaac caught an interception and returned it 35 yards, nearly reaching the end zone before he was tripped up. That interception led to a touchdown play on a 4-yard run from Joel Davis.

Damion Williams intercepted a pass in Hazlehurst’s second-to-last possession of the game, and Santorius Pollard caught the interception that ended the scrimmage.

“That’s what we expect out of those guys,” Reed said. “They’re our playmakers, and we expect them to make those plays. We hold them accountable for those kinds of plays because that’s their role on our team.”

The Bulldogs did fumble once and had to punt a couple times.

And Natchez quarterback Javon Washington threw two interceptions in the game, one on a desperation attempt to get rid of the ball early in the game.

But impressive runs by Pollard, Washington and Kevin Bailey helped keep the Bulldogs in the game.

“We liked the competitiveness,” Reed said. “Through the adversity our guys didn’t really hold their heads down. They kept playing.

They’re a good team, and that’s why we called them to come out here and give us some good action this spring.”

Javon Washington turned his ankle early in the game and limped off the field, forcing backup quarterback Joey Bruce to go into the game, but Washington came back out in the second quarter.

Keenan McAllister went down with a turned ankle near the end of the scrimmage but walked off the field on his own.

Reed said both players were fine but would be monitored.

The Bulldogs will take the upcoming week off before starting summer workouts after Memorial Day.

And today, Natchez Adams school board member Dr. Benny Wright will throw a fish fry for the team.

Then, its back to business.

“We’re pleased with what we’ve got — we have a lot to work with,” Reed said. “We just have to go to work, that’s the bottom line. We’ve got plenty of time to work — that ‘plenty of time’ will roll right past before you know it — so we have just a couple months to get better.”