NATCHEZ — The Cathedral Green Wave washed over Mount Olive Friday night behind a stifling defense and a three-touchdown effort by running back J.D. Ealey.

Ealey rushed 20 times for 129 yards and three first-half scores to give Cathedral a 35-7 homecoming win, and its fifth Region 4-1A win of the season.

“I was very proud of our team, especially after last week,” Rushing said. “We got better discipline-wise, and we played hard,” he said.

Rushing said his team mixed things up well on offense Friday night, throwing for 258 yards while rushing for 129, and Ealey agreed with that assessment.

“We have a lot of weapons,” Ealey said. “We have a very dynamic offense. There’s no telling what we might do.”

Ealey’s 20 carries were more than all the other Cathedral runners had combined, and he said he likes the work.

“I love (carrying the ball),” he said. “Anything I can do for the team. I’ll put them on my back if I have to.”

Six other Cathedral players combined for zero yards on 16 carries.

Rushing also commended defensive coordinator Kurt Russ for having the defense ready to play. Cathedral gave up just 156 yards of offense, 45 of which came on a Subar Langston touchdown run late in the contest.

The Green Wave also forced four Mount Olive turnovers. Kyle Bradley had two fumble recoveries for Cathedral, Josh Calloway had a fumble recovery of his own and Matthew Rymer intercepted a pass.

Cathedral put the game out of reach early by scoring on each of its first three drives.

Quarterback Caleb Upton connected with Carl Hammitte for a 35-yard touchdown pass, and Lee Fairbanks added the extra point to put Cathedral up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.

Ealey scored the first of his three touchdowns on Cathedral’s next drive. The Green Wave took the ball 89 yards in 13 plays, and Ealey capped it off with a 7-yard run. Fairbanks’ kick made it a 14-point game.

After Rymer’s interception gave the Green Wave good field position, Ealey scored again on a 1-yard run 22 seconds into the second quarter.

With 3:29 left in the half, Ealey scored on a 6-yard run to bring the halftime score to 28-0.

Cathedral kept the offense going on its first possession in the second half when Upton connected with Daniel Huffines on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Upton finished his night with 236 yards passing and two touchdowns. He was 16-for-26 with no interceptions.

Upton’s main target on the night was Tyler Flemming, who caught 5 passes for 78 yards. Hammitte caught three passes for 74 yards and one score, while Huffines made three catches for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Mount Olive’s lone score came with 2:44 left in the game when Langston got around the Cathedral defense for his 45-yard touchdown run.

Rushing said it was good for his team to grab another region win.

“Hopefully we’ll keep it rolling,” he said. “We don’t want to slip up anywhere.”

Cathedral (7-0, 5-0) will travel to face Bogue Chitto next week.