NATCHEZ &8212; Jason Bruce may be just an offensive guy at heart.

So when coaches at Natchez High gave everyone an assignment on the other side of the ball and told Bruce he could be a pretty good cornerback, well, he probably thought about running away from them like they were trying to tackle him.

On Thursday, the speedy threat on the offensive side of the ball did some serious damage on the other side. Lining up at corner, Bruce came up with two interceptions &8212; one he returned for a touchdown before being negated due to penalty.

He also ran for two scores on offense to help the White team claim a 34-6 win over the Blue in the Bulldogs&8217; intrasquad scrimmage to close out the spring.

&8220;I&8217;ve got a lot of schools looking at me at defensive back,&8221; Bruce said. &8220;Whatever I&8217;ve got to do to get to the next level, I&8217;ll do it. After they told me I&8217;d be playing DB, I got some college and NFL tapes and watched how they bump and run. I didn&8217;t play much DB in spring training, but I got out here and tried to get a little better.&8221;

Bruce could have a frame better suited to play cornerback, although he&8217;s gotten interest at wide receiver and even some quarterback from schools so far. It&8217;s the height factor &8212; he&8217;s only 5-9 &8212; that will turn college coaches away from the idea of playing quarterback, but he&8217;s got the speed and quickness to play the aforementioned two.

He picked off a Travis Isaac pass in the first quarter and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown before it was called back. He picked off another Isaac pass on the last play before halftime.

&8220;We started off the spring with everybody playing two positions,&8221; Natchez head coach Lance Reed said. &8220;Today was a day to see what they could do on both sides of the ball. We see what he can do every day, and he kind of showed us another aspect of his game and how we can use him.

&8220;From talking to some of the coaches, they know he has talent whether it&8217;s on the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball. They just like him as an athlete. And I don&8217;t think quarterback is out of the question.&8221;

That could very well be a possibility this fall, depending on how things go on the offensive end. The Bulldogs&8217; only senior last year was Co-Lin-bound Sa&8217;Mel Washington with Desmond Smoot, Isaac and Jeremy Hargrave expected to return in the secondary.

But in Thursday&8217;s scrimmage, several players who lined up on offense only got in on the defensive action. Even receiver Edward Johnson lined up in the secondary.

&8220;Coach came out here, put me on defense and I stepped up and did what I had to do,&8221; said Bruce, who said he&8217;s received letters from the state&8217;s big three schools along with Illinois and Alabama. &8220;I just had to face the fact that I had to help my team out. Whatever I&8217;ve got to do to help my team out, I&8217;ve got to do it. Tackling will get me, but I&8217;ve going to work on it.&8221;

The White&8217;s defense allowed only one score the whole game, a 64-yard run from Andre Hayward early in the second quarter. The Blue team also had a productive drive end inside the White 20 with a turnover, but everything else was of little result.

Credit some of it to Bruce&8217;s two picks and some to big defensive lineman Keathon Ransom. On the Blue&8217;s last two plays of the scrimmage, he came up with big tackles &8212; including a quarterback sack on the final play for a 7-yard loss.

&8220;We need to see that every play, and he can play for us,&8221; Reed said. &8220;That&8217;s what (college coaches) say about him. He might have grown an inch or two (since last season). He&8217;s been in the weight room, and he&8217;s gotten stronger. We&8217;re just trying to get him ready to have a good senior campaign where he can play hard every play.&8221;

That&8217;s one thing Ransom took note of during the recent Nike camp at LSU. He and Bruce got invitations along with Johnson and running back Latarus Frazier, and it taught him to keep his feet moving and never give up on a play.

&8220;I&8217;m a little quicker than I was at this point last year,&8221; Ransom said. &8220;I&8217;ve been working with Coach (Shane) Martin. I did a lot of foot drills (at LSU). As a lineman, you&8217;ve got to be fast on your feet.&8221;

Then there was Hayward, the Hurricane Katrina evacuee who checked in after initially enrolling at Belaire High School in Baton Rouge following the storm. He could replace Brandon Lewis in the backfield this fall, and the guy with deceptive speed finished the scrimmage with 112 yards on 14 carries.

&8220;He was kind of the workhorse from spring training,&8221; Reed said. &8220;A couple of the other guys were in track, and he was carrying the load. He runs hard. The first guy usually doesn&8217;t get him down. They bounce off him a little bit, and he can turn it on a little bit and do well.&8221;

Hayward and Bruce each broke big plays for touchdowns, something coaches didn&8217;t want to see. But it gave the team something awfully positive to build on this summer, Reed said, with a good fan turnout and an enjoyable experience with everyone playing new positions.

It adds to the momentum following last year&8217;s 5-5 record.

&8220;A lot of people are talking about how we&8217;re supposed to be good,&8221; Ransom said. &8220;I feel the same way.&8221;