NATCHEZ &045; With the way St. Aloysius played in the last half of the season, those teams in Class 1A that did make the playoffs probably are glad the Flashes did not get in.

St. Al junior running back Rob Jones broke Cathedral’s back with two long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter and finished with 183 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 22 carries as the Flashes stunned the Green Wave 34-25 Friday night at D’Evereaux Stadium.

On a night when Cathedral’s seniors were recognized before the start of the game and the Green Wave teams of 1973, 1983 and 1993 were honored at halftime, it was Jones who stole the show.

&uot;They kept blitzing and we ran past them,&uot; Jones said. &uot;One of them couldn’t tackle me. They tried to gang tackle me.&uot;

St. Aloysius (6-5, 5-4) took a 20-17 lead going into the fourth quarter after Jones scored on a one-yard run with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter.

With good blocking from his offensive line, Jones scored on a 40-yard run to give the Flashes a 27-17 lead with 10:56 to go in the game.

&uot;Rob has been our workhorse all year,&uot; St. Aloysius head coach Jim Taylor said. &uot;He already had over 1,000 yards this year. They (offensive line) did an exceptional job most of the time.&uot;

Cathedral (7-3, 6-3) got back in the game thanks to a safety with 6:05 to go when the ball sailed over the head of St. Al quarterback/punter Drew Mazzanti and into the end zone.

Mazzanti then kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone to prevent the Green Wave from scoring a touchdown.

Cathedral then cut the lead to 27-25 with 3:19 to go on a one-yard run by Jonathan Jackson four plays after Mazzanti was sacked by John Paul Kenda, who forced the ball loose and Eric Lee recovered at the St. Al 11-yard line.

But on the first play from scrimmage on St. Al’s next possession, Jones got a key block from Austin Golding and outran the rest of the Green Wave defense for an 80-yard touchdown run to end the rally.

&uot;I’m very disappointed,&uot; Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. &uot;They wanted it more than we did. Everytime we had a chance to get back in the game, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot and gave them a big play.&uot;

And even with seven and eight men lined up in the box to stop the run, Jones and Golding still couldn’t be stopped for much of the game.

&uot;I think their line dominated our line in the second half. St. Al, this made their season. I didn’t think we were sharp.&uot;

Jackson gave Cathedral a 7-0 lead on a 73-yard touchdown run to cap off a three-play, 94-yard drive. After that long run, St. Al held him to 24 yards on his final eight carries of the game.

&uot;Our job was to defend the screens and not give up the big plays,&uot; Taylor said.

Then the Flashes decided to go to the running game to control the clock, and it worked as they drove 73 yards in 15 plays and took nearly seven minutes off the clock, with Mazzanti finding Anthony Rector on a 15-yard touchdown catch for a 7-7 score.

&uot;It was an overall team effort,&uot; Taylor said. &uot;It’s always a heck of a game when these two teams face each other. We tried to play ball control and we did for a while until we had a couple of turnovers.&uot;

&uot;I think they underestimated us,&uot; Jones said. &uot;We ended on a four- or five-game winning streak.&uot;

The Green Wave retook the lead at 14-7 on a three-yard touchdown run by Andrew Ellard, but Rector returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-13 with 8:18 to go in the second quarter.

Kenda gave Cathedral a 17-13 halftime lead with a 36-yard field goal with 5:26 to go until the break.