Wave whips Wisner

Published 12:00 am Sunday, September 5, 1999

A tired Ken Beesley gathered his players on the 40-yard line and chastised them after their 26-18 win over Wisner at D’Evereux Field.

&uot;The only good thing I can say about this game is that we won,&uot; Beesley told his players. &uot;Other than that I’d be hard pressed to say anything good.&uot;

The Green Wave used a methodical offense to jump out to an early 13-0 lead. The play du jour for Cathedral was the off tackle dive.

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The Bulldogs were fed a heavy dose of running backs Ja’Mel Jackson, Casey&160;Rogers and Mark Steckler throughout the game.

Beesley knew his team should be able to run between the tackles. &uot;This is one team that we are bigger than,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We figured we could run straight at them.&uot;

After jumping out to an early lead, Beesley tried to mix things up by working in the passing game. Stephen Edwards attempted enough passes to keep the Bulldog defense honest but had little luck connecting with receivers. Edwards finished the game 3-14 passing with 18 yards and two interceptions.

The Cathedral running game featured two 100-yard rushers. Casey Rodgers carried the ball 21 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns and Mark Steckler had 105 yards on 11 carries.

The Cathedral defense made their presence known on the first play from scrimmage. Reginald Gales hit Bulldog quarterback, Mitch Cooper, as he was trying to pitch the ball. The Green Wave recovered the fumble leading to their first score.

Wisner clawed their way back in the game on big plays, but Cathedral answered each scare from Wisner with a scoring drive of their own. Cathedral faced a major blow when Casey Rodgers went down with an apparent knee injury.

Defensively, Scott McLemore set the pace for Cathedral. McLemore had three tackles, one assist three interceptions and one fumble recovery.

&uot;We did a good job of running the ball,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We knew we could run the ball on this team. All the other teams we play are bigger than us. We will have to throw better if we are to have a good season. All the other teams we play are bigger than us.&uot;

The Green Wave get ready to host Richland.

&uot;We will be a better team by the end of next week,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We have to get better.&uot;