NATCHEZ — The Natchez High School football team fought through some preseason mistakes, and used an excellent performance by running back Larry Chatman to defeat Hazlehurst 20-6 Friday night in the jamboree at Tom F. Williams Memorial Stadium.

Chatman rushed for 80 yards on 9 carries and two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs offensively.

Natchez coach Lance Reed said he was just glad to finally go against a team in a different color uniform.

“(The players) gave a great effort, and I’m proud of their effort,” he said. “There are still some technical things we have to work on, but that’s the purpose of the jamboree, to evaluate.”

Reed said he saw his team’s win tonight as a stepping-stone for the season.

“We have to do a better job executing our scheme, but we will watch the film and build from this,” he said.

Natchez only led 7-6 after the first 20-minute half.

Both teams were ineffective offensively for most of the first half. But Natchez was able to finally put points on the board with 1:35 left with a 24-yard run by Chatman.

Hazlehurst answered with a 70-yard drive of its own to end the half highlighted by two 35-yard passing plays.

Hazlehurst quarterback Kenny Coleman hit Demetrius Cain on the second of those long passes to bring the Indians within one point of Natchez. Hazlehurst went for two on the point-after and failed.

Natchez came out and scored on its first possession of the second half after stopping Hazlehurst on a fourth and seven on the Natchez 33 yard-line.

The Bulldogs took the ball from there and capped a 67-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Derrian Johnson to Emeal Smith. Kicker Herbert Steadman missed the extra point, and Natchez led 13-6.

Natchez got one more possession in the second half and it turned into a 62-yard touchdown drive. Chatman scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run, and Steadman added the extra point to bring the final score to 20-6.

Johnson started his first game under center for the Bulldogs, and he was not called on to put the ball in the air often. He finished the game 3-for-6 passing for 30 yards and a touchdown.

The Bulldogs put up 153 yards of offense.

Jefferson County 0,

Wilkinson County 0

Neither team could get much offense going in the first game of the Natchez High School jamboree’s double-header.

Wilkinson County and Jefferson County played to a 0-0 tie in their contest.

Jefferson County’s main issue was penalties offensively; the Tigers committed 11 infractions for 75 yards.

“We need work,” Jefferson County coach James Herrington said. “You always need work at the beginning of the season. We were not sharp with tackling and had too many penalties.

“Penalties cost us on a lot of situations. We have to be more focused every play, every time.”

Wilkinson County’s offense was stalled by two turnovers and negative plays.

“We have to work on some things offensively,” Wildcats’ coach Kenneth Brown said. “We have to work on the finer points of the game, and carrying out assignments.”

Neither team reached 100 yards offensively on the night, but Jefferson County quarterback Monroe Barnes had a solid night throwing the ball.

Barnes completed five of his six attempts for 64 yards.

“We saw some bright spots, like good decisions by our quarterback, and good adjustments by our defense at half time,” Herrington said.

While Wilkinson County struggled on offense, defensive lineman Jamari Jenkins made plays for the Wildcats on defense.

Jenkins racked up seven tackles and a sack for the Wilkinson County defense.

Brown said he was pleased with his team’s physicality.

“We are working hard, and the hitting is much improved,” he said. “We don’t mind contact, and that’s something we’ve been missing.”

Jefferson County will host Trinity next week, and Wilkinson County will host Natchez.