NATCHEZ — As the clock ticked down on Cathedral’s first victory over rival St. Aloysius in four years Friday night, the feeling wasn’t as much jubilation as relief.

After all, the Green Wave had lost close, heartbreaking games to the Flashes in recent years and found themselves in another dogfight against a St. Al team in a rebuilding year.

But there would be no last-minute comeback for the Flashes this year. The Cathedral defense would see to that.

Leading 13-8 late in the game, Cathedral lined up to punt, and coach Ron Rushing issued a challenge to his defense.

“We punted with 3:30 left, and I told our defense to go out there and win it for us,” Rushing said.

And that they did, as they stopped the Flashes on four consecutive plays to preserve the five-point victory.

The game was far from the runaway some thought it might be. Cathedral never trailed, but never got a comfortable lead either.

The Green Wave led 6-0 at halftime before a St. Al safety made it 6-2 in the third quarter.

A long touchdown pass to Carl Hammitte made it 13-2, but St. Al once again came back with a score to cut the lead to five points with just over five minutes left.

Cathedral was then forced to punt and the Green Wave defense rose to the occasion to seal the victory.

“I think we were a little tight,” Rushing said of his team during the game. “(The losing streak) was in the back of their heads, but they fought through it. It definitely is a big relief for us.”

Not only does Cathedral’s win end the losing streak against their rivals, it puts them in great position to win Region 4-1A.

The Green Wave’s win, coupled with Bogue Chitto’s 14-0 loss to Mount Olive, means Cathedral is the only undefeated team left in the district at 4-0.

A win at home over Bogue Chitto this week means Cathedral only has to win one of its final two games to clinch the region title.

Natchez High

The Natchez High Bulldogs continued its push for the playoffs on Friday, as they took a 52-6 homecoming victory over Jim Hill.

After running the gauntlet through the first three games of Region 3-6A against Meridian, Oak Grove and Brandon, the schedule lightens up considerably.

The Bulldogs’ final three games are against Terry, Wingfield and Hattiesburg, which have a combined record of 10-14.

Victories over those teams would put Natchez at no worse than third place in the region.

A big key to success in those games is a lack of turnovers.

After turning the ball over four times in the 24-17 win over Brandon, Natchez was much more careful with the football and forced several takeaways against Jim Hill and it showed as they raced to a 33-0 halftime lead en route to the 46-point victory.

“It’s good to be on the other end, to receive some, but we still didn’t feel like we played a complete game,” Natchez coach Lance Reed said. “We had a few bad series where we stunk it up a bit and turned the ball over. Our goal is to play a complete football game in all areas.”

Natchez will hit the road to play Terry Friday night in another must-win region game.

ACCS

The Adams County Christian Rebels celebrated senior night with a victory the seniors could be proud of.

ACCS raced out to a 28-6 halftime lead and held on in the second half to defeat Silliman 41-32.

And coach Paul Hayles called the victory a total team effort.

“The whole team rallied together for this game,” Hayles said. “This is one of the best team efforts I’ve seen.”

And the whole team played a part, as ACCS scored two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns and two touchdowns on kickoff returns.

But after playing well in the first half, the Rebel defense gave up several big plays to Silliman, with running back Jake Parsons breaking three touchdown runs of over 50 yards.

However, two fourth-quarter turnovers killed any Silliman comeback chances, and the Rebels put the game on ice when Cory Emanuel intercepted a pass with 1:30 remaining.

“Mistakes led to the big plays,” Hayles said. “My hat’s off to Silliman, they’ve got a team that fights. And it’s a testament to our team that we were able to hold off their charge.”

Trinity Episcopal

After two tough games back-to-back against River Oaks and Brookhaven Academy, the Trinity Saints were able to rest a multitude of players against Baton Rouge Home School Prep.

The Trinity seniors played only the first quarter and most of the starters played a little over a half in Trinity’s 53-8 win.

Trinity has played all non-district games to this point, but that will chance on Friday, as the Saints travel to play Tallulah in their only District 6-A game of the year.

With the closure of Huntington and Briarfield dropping to eight-man football, there are only two teams in the district.

Trinity can win the district and clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win on Friday night.