Green Wave linemen win battle upfront as Cathedral beat Central Hinds in junior high matchup

Published 8:56 pm Thursday, October 7, 2021

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NATCHEZ — Cathedral took the first lead on two touchdowns by Terrence Lee to go up 14-0. His second touchdown was a 78-yard rush and began an onslaught of offensive success as the Green Wave beat Central Hinds 36-14 in Junior High action Thursday night.

After the game, head coach Chuck Darbonne said his team won the battle upfront. He told them it is what led to their success. Linemen opened up holes on numerous occasions to get Green Wave running backs into the second level. Lee’s 78-yard rush is an example of blocking leading to a touchdown. He was able to hit a hole and bounce the run outside. A few seconds later, he was prancing into the endzone.

“We blocked it well inside and, he hit the hole full speed,” Darbonne said. “We executed very well upfront the whole night. I’m proud of the effort they gave and the effort they played with. If you win the battle up front then you will win more than you lose.”

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On their next offensive series, running back Fredrick Lane broke free and raced down the field for 90 yards before being tackled two yards short of the goal line. His big rush set up the Green Wave with perfect field position and flipped the field from the 8-yard line where they had started the drive.

Darbonne called three straight run plays to get him a touchdown. He punched in a two-yard rush to give the Green Wave a 20-0 lead with 2:53 to go in the half.
“He was out of energy, and a little banged up, but I was proud he was able to get one,” Darbonne said. “I wanted him to be able to finish the drive off. I wanted him to finish the way it started. We could have called anything, and it would have worked. We were pretty successful.”

Cathedral added another touchdown on a 45-yard pass from Tralyn Cusic to Grayson Gay. 28-0 was the score.

“I believe that was his first touchdown. It’s great to see the excitement on his face,” Darbonne said.

Cathedral gave up a 38-yard touchdown pass to Central Hinds and had its lead cut to 28-6. 42.5 seconds left in the first half. Lee scored again for the Green Wave on a 20-yard pick-six to lead 36-6. Central Hinds scored on a 12-yard pass late to bring the score to 36-14.

Cathedral will play St. Aloysius on Oct. 14 at home. Darbonne said he does not know much about the Flashes yet but will hope to watch some film on them. He said Central Hinds had lost to them 19-0 earlier in the year.

“Junior high is week to week,” Darbonne said. “We can put something on film today and do something completely different tomorrow. It’s a big question mark every week.”