NATCHEZ — Military Appreciation Night and senior night was somewhat bittersweet for Cathedral High School.

Though the Green Wave pounded Dexter High School en route to a 48-14 victory, with Salem High School upsetting Bogue Chitto 21-20, Cathedral’s path to the playoffs became more difficult.

“We’ll have to have some help,” Cathedral head coach Ron Rushing said. “There are several different scenarios (for us to get in), and I don’t know what all of them are. We’ll figure it out this weekend, but Salem winning definitely didn’t help us.”

For now, though, Rushing said he’ll enjoy the win against Dexter, a team that has given Cathedral fits in the past. The Green Wave tallied 214 yards passing, and their defense shut the Bulldogs out in the first half.

“We just executed,” Rushing said. “We threw the ball well, we caught it, just everything was clicking. Thomas (Garrity) threw really well, and I think he completed 15 straight. Coach (Brett) Hinson was up in the booth calling plays, and I’d add a wrinkle here and there, but I thought he did a good job getting us into a rhythm.”

Ishmael Blackmon scored first on a 14-yard pass from Garrity at the 8:37 mark in the first quarter. Jardarius Anderson added a 42-yard touchdown reception with 5:08 remaining in the quarter to put Cathedral up 14-0. Blackmon scored again with 53 seconds remaining in the first on a 5-yard toss from Garrity.

In the second quarter, Josh Wilkerson, who had seven carries for 59 yards, scored on a 15-yard run at the 11:16 mark, but it was J.J. Jenkins’ touchdown later on that stood out to Rushing. With 5:17 left in the half, Jenkins returned an interception 85 yards to give Cathedral a 35-0 lead at intermission.

“We had some guys come out in front and make some blocks, and he made some good cuts,” Rushing said. “It was a pretty exciting return. We really weren’t emotionally into the game before then, even though we played well, but when it did that, it kind of charged everyone up.”

Cathedral gave up a pair of scores in the third and fourth quarter but also scored two more times itself. James Alan Coley caught an 11-yard pass from Garrity with 7:42 left in the third, and Christian Jenkins scored on a 10-yard carry with 10:02 remaining in the fourth.

Garrity finished 15-for-17 in passing for 214 yards and four touchdowns. Blackmon had five catches for 57 yards, and Anderson hauled in three passes for 68 yards. R.J. Givens also had three receptions for 50 yards.

On defense, Jacob Pankha led with 12 tackles, and Coley and Zach Flattmann each added 10 tackles. Wilkerson and Ty Brown both totaled nine tackles apiece.

The Green Wave (7-4, 5-3) will close out the regular season on the road at Mount Olive High School, and Rushing said his mindset is to win the last game and hope for the best.

“You just have to be honest with them, it could be their last game,” Rushing said. “This is a good football team, and we want to go out with a win and keep playing. Stranger things have happened — you never know.”