NATCHEZ — Last week, Natchez High School hoped to ride the momentum it got in its win against Oak Grove into its game at Brandon High School.

Brandon had other ideas, however, pounding the Bulldogs 44-15 and holding them to no touchdowns in the first half.

Natchez (4-3, 1-2) managed just one touchdown in each quarter of the second half. In the third, it scored on a Santorius Pollard 64-yard touchdown catch. In the fourth, the Bulldogs scored on a 43-yard run by Joel Davis.

“It was a pretty even game starting off,” Bulldogs head coach Lance Reed said. “Then we got backed up and threw an interception, then came back and gave up a big run.

“We moved the ball well, but then (quarterback) Javon (Washington) went down with an injury. It just snowballed downward for us after that. We gave up several more turnovers.”

Reed said Washington sustained bruised ribs, and is questionable for the Bulldogs’ game Friday against Jim Hill High School.

“He’s day-to-day,” Reed said. “We’re monitoring him and seeing how it feels. Derrian Johnson is the guy we’re going with right now at quarterback. We’ll see how Javon progresses.”

The questions surrounding Johnson don’t concern ability as much as experience, Reed said.

“He’s a freshman playing his second year of football. He’s an athletic kid who can (play well at quarterback), but lacks game experience. We’ll do what we can do to play to his strengths and hopefully come out with a win.”

Talented players are something Reed said he expects to see from Jim Hill.

“They’re an athletic team that’s usually very fast,” Reed said. “We’re accustomed to close games with them, so we’re going to have to play sound football.”

Reed said there would be several keys to the game Friday, most notably being how much effort the Bulldogs players put into the game.

“We have to play with maximum effort,” Reed said. “We also can’t have turnovers, and we have to execute our game plan well. If we can do those three things, we’ll be feeling pretty good about ourselves after the game.”

With only one win in Region 3-6A play, Reed said he understands that his players have their work cut out for them in terms of making the postseason.

“Our region is wide open right now,” Reed said. “Everyone has one loss. Our best scenario is to win out to get in, so we’re focusing on taking care of business week-to-week.

“Our lack of consistency has really been an issue, so our focus is on the here and the now, rather than whether or not we make the playoffs.”