The 10-and-under Natchez Falcons defense came to play.
Offensively, the Falcons were unable to produce points in a 13-0 loss to the South Jackson ‘49ers Saturday morning at Natchez High School.
In Saturday mornings’ three-game set against South Jackson, the Falcons went 1-2.
“We need some work on offense to get them going,” head coach Darryl Smith said. “They’re coming around, but offense takes them a little more time (to improve) than defense. They played hard today; it’s just a few things we have to work out.”
The game was scoreless until the 4:25 mark in the second quarter when South Jackson’s sturdy quarterback ran in a touchdown on a QB sneak.
From that point, the Falcons’ defense flexed its muscles. Akeem Liddell helped the Natchez defense force South Jackson to go three-and-out by tallying sacks on back-to-back plays.
At the 7:35 mark in the fourth quarter, South Jackson exploited a hole in the Natchez defense and padded its lead with a long rushing touchdown.
Natchez took control of the ball on the final drive of the game. Running backs Jakel Brown and Caron Williams marched the Falcons down the field and Smith utilized all three Falcons timeouts.
Quarterback Jordan Berry scrambled and broke off a long run to set the Falcons up in the red zone, but with time winding down and no time outs, time expired before the Falcons could get another play off.
Smith said the Falcons’ offense needed to seal more blocks to effectively rush.
“We try to work on what we think the other defense will be doing,” Smith said. “Most teams run a 5-2, so we try to teach the kids who they’re going to block and the areas they’re blocking.”
Smith was still confident in his team’s prospects of making the postseason.
“We can still make the playoffs with three games left,” Smith said. “We’re going to be OK … They’re working at practice but they have to bring it to the game.”
In the early game, the 8-and-under Falcons lost a nailbiter to the ‘49ers, 7-6. The 12-and-under Falcons earned Natchez’s first win Saturday, 13-8, in a game that started with a heavy downpour.