WOODVILLE — Before Wilkinson County and Natchez High School battled on the gridiron, Wilkinson County head coach Kenneth Brown said the game would come down to the play of Natchez High School quarterback Chris Scott.

In a 33-27 Wildcat victory that featured four Natchez turnovers, Brown was proud of his defense’s effort on the talented sophomore quarterback.

“We flushed him out of the pocket,” Brown said. “We did a pretty good job of handling him.”

While speed was on full display with Wilkinson County’s Travion Jones making acrobatic plays and NHS’ Malik Byrd catching a 60-yard touchdown, turnovers and bad snaps were the story of the game, Natchez offensive coordinator Rod Holmes said.

“We were able to move the ball, and Chris played pretty good, but the bad snaps were killing drives,” Holmes said.

The Bulldogs had success on the ground with Tydarrius Terrell rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown in the game.

Wilkinson County jumped up 19-6 on Natchez in the second quarter before Natchez answered with a score and took a 20-19 lead off of a Shavoke Herrington pick six. Herrington, who had eight interceptions as a freshman safety last year, recorded his first interception of 2015 and took it to the house minutes before the half. However, a Natchez penalty that followed gave Wilkinson County great field position. Wilkinson County quarterback Desmond Hunter then marched his team down the field and put his team back up with a touchdown pass on a corner route with seconds to go in the half.

“I thought (Desmond) played under control,” Brown said. “He led the offense well.”

Hunter finished with 294 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in the victory. He also recorded 65 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Ja’Quarrious Stewart led the team with 111 receiving yards and Juan Anthony had seven catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

Kelandrix Lushaw recorded two interceptions for Wilkinson County and Jones added another. Holmes said the Bulldogs’ fourth turnover came on a bad snap that resulted in a fumble.

Brown said the win is big for the program, but further gives substance to what he’s been preaching all summer long.

“Like I’ve been saying all along, I think these kids have had a good summer working out and hitting weights,” Brown said. “We just put ourselves in position for a good fall.”

Wilkinson County (1-0) will travel to play at Amite County Friday, while Natchez (0-1) welcomes Jefferson County (1-0).