NATCHEZ — It came down to a prayer, and Father John Brock — with an assist from Daniel Huffines ­— delivered.

After scoring with just less than two minutes to play to cut Stringer High School’s lead to 33-28, Cathedral High School recovered an onside kick on its own 44-yard line. With time running out and no timeouts left, the Green Wave needed a big play.

Instead, what the Green Wave got was a play for the ages.

After an incomplete pass on first down, Cathedral quarterback Caleb Upton rolled to his left on second down but ran into several Red Devil defenders. After miraculously escaping being dropped for a loss, Upton ran to his right and threw up a Hail Mary pass.

And Mother Mary was full of grace, as Huffines made the unbelievable catch and ran it in for a 56-yard touchdown reception.

“Caleb just threw up a prayer, and Father Brock, I think, answered a prayer tonight,” Huffines said. “I think Father Brock was there for us — again.”

Brock, who died last year, was a Catholic priest who served as Cathedral’s sports chaplain.

Upton admitted afterward that the play was so unbelievable that he wasn’t sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“I just saw a bunch of white jerseys, and I just turned around and kept my eyes downfield, and I saw my man, No. 15, Daniel Huffines, and he brought it down,” Upton said.

“I still don’t believe it. I still don’t know how it happened. It’s amazing.”

Cathedral’s J.D. Ealey ran the two-point conversion, putting Cathedral up 36-33 with 1:07 left in the fourth. The Green Wave launched the ensuing kickoff deep into Stringer territory, forcing the normally run-heavy Red Devils to attempt several passes.

And on third down with 30 seconds left, Cathedral’s Ishmael Blackmon intercepted Stringer quarterback Tevin Moore’s pass to seal the win for the Green Wave.

Green Wave head coach Ron Rushing was speechless following his team’s come-from-behind shocker.

“I didn’t (believe it at first),” Rushing said. “I’m at a loss for words right now. Caleb Upton scrambled, got out of a mess, turned around and threw it up, and we made a play.”

With 10:26 left in the fourth quarter, Huffines scored on a 7-yard pass to make it 33-21 Stringer. The Green Wave knew they needed to get the ball back quickly, but had trouble stopping the Red Devils on their ensuing possession.

Stringer ran a 17-play drive that got all the way to Cathedral’s 27 yard-line, but the Green Wave forced a turnover on fourth down. Still, with just 1:53 left on the clock, the chances for a comeback looked slim.

But instead of worrying about the odds, the Green Wave just went out and got the job done in just two plays. Carl Hammitte caught a 28-yard catch that moved the chains to the Stringer 45. Then, Upton connected with Tyler Flemming on a 45-yard touchdown catch to put the Green Wave within striking distance.

Cathedral needed a lucky bounce on the onside kick, and got just that. After traveling 10 yards, the ball bounced off a Stringer player, and several Green Wave players swarmed to pick it up. Cathedral recovered on the Green Wave 44, setting up Upton’s heroic pass.

Cathedral scored first on its opening drive, with Upton hitting Khalil Brice for a 6-yard touchdown pass. But the Green Wave quickly fell behind 21-7 after three big plays by Stringer in the first quarter.

With 8:52 left in the first, Stringer’s Lorenzo Crosby scored from 60 yards out, and Moore added a 49-yard touchdown run with 7:02 left. With one second remaining in the first, Moore scored his second touchdown of the night on a 37-yard run.

The second quarter was full of emotions. Cathedral was hit with several controversial penalties, including a personal foul, causing the game to be delayed several minutes while the coaches argued with the referees. Stringer’s Cressie Aldridge was later tossed from the game on a personal foul, causing steam on both sidelines.

When things finally settled down, a 40-yard touchdown catch by Huffines with 5:35 left before halftime cut the Stringer lead to 21-14. But a 10-yard run with 2:39 left by Crosby gave the Red Devils six more points before intermission. A missed extra point made it 27-14 at the half.

Cathedral is now 4-0 overall, 2-0 in Region 4-1A. Stringer fell to 2-2 overall, 1-1 in the region. And Upton said the way his team finished would pay dividends for its confidence going forward.

“It’s huge,” Upton said of the win. “It’s going to set the stage for the rest of the year. It’s going to set the tone, and we have to keep rolling with it.”