NATCHEZ &8212; Coach Ken Beesley earned his 199th win, as Cathedral upended St. John 34-15 at home, thanks to a strong defensive effort.

The adage that old age and cunning will beat youth and vigor, held true as Beesley&8217;s call for a fake field goal in the second quarter gave the Green Wave a deciding two touchdown lead heading into halftime, and was easily the play of the game.

&8220;I thought it was a pretty good call,&8221; Beesley said.

On the play Braxton Fondren found Kyle Ladner alone in the end zone from eight yards out.

On the other sideline, the Eagle coaching staff thought it was a pretty good call as well, but obviously they weren&8217;t as pleased with the outcome.

&8220;It was a great call. I wanted to block the kick and that&8217;s what we called for,&8221; St. John coach Brad Rhodes said. &8220;I just never saw that one coming.&8221;

Defensively the Green Wave put forth a strong effort as they limited the Eagles to just 252 total yards of offense.

Cathedral linebacker Preston Edwards led all tacklers with nine solo stops and two assists, while Jesse Morrison accounted for six solo tackles and six assists.

&8220;We&8217;re playing as hard as we can play right now,&8221; coach Beesley said. &8220;We didn&8217;t come out of the locker room with a lot of intensity but I felt pretty good about how hard our kids played once we got a series or two into the game.&8221;

Cathedral quarterback Patrick McDonough threw three touchdowns and went 12-25 through the air.

&8220;Patrick did a fine job once again passing the ball for us,&8221; Beesley said. &8220;I thought our receivers did a really good job getting open and catching passes.&8221;

St. John running back Justin Minor scored one touchdown and led all rushers with 129 yards on 25 carries.

&8220;He&8217;s been consistent all year,&8221; Rhodes said. &8220;He&8217;s a leader and plays hard, and that&8217;s all you can ask for.&8221;

The ground game seemed to be the only area the Eagles were able to move the ball as the Eagles rushed for 233 yards.

&8220;We&8217;re just not big enough upfront to shut people down,&8221; Beesley said. &8220;But other than the third quarter we did a fine job tackling as a team.&8221;

The Eagles seemed snake bit coming in to the game, losing starting quarterback Ladd Rhodes, last week and then losing back-up quarterback Jared Guidry on the opening series.

&8220;None of that helped. They were both just kind of freak accidents,&8221; Rhodes said. &8220;We lost as good of players as you could have lost, but there&8217;s no excuses for a loss.&8221;

Next week Cathedral travels to play Mt. Olive.