photo by Hannah Reel

Natchez’s head coach Lance Reed discusses plays with his team during the game against Oak Grove Friday night at Natchez High School.

Natchez coach says refocusing key to big victory

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Monday, October 5, 2009

NATCHEZ — The Natchez High Bulldogs celebrated a playoff berth last season and advanced to the second round before Oak Grove put them out with a 35-15 victory.

Last Friday night, the Bulldogs got their revenge.

Natchez used a huge game from quarterback Javon Washington and receiver Santorius Pollard to stun the previously No. 4 ranked Warriors 48-45.

The offensive shootout was in stark contrast to Natchez’s previous game, a 35-0 loss to Meridian.

Natchez head coach Lance Reed said the Bulldogs spent the week of practice working on the little things, and it paid off.

“We really focused on improving last week,” Reed said. “We were very disappointed in the loss to Meridian, but we didn’t cry over it. We went back to work. We focused on doing things right and playing with effort. We felt there was a lack of effort against Meridian, and we went back to the drawing board and had recommitment from everyone in the program.”

For Reed, the win over Oak Grove was a statement as well as a rallying point for Bulldog players and fans.

“We’ve put forth a lot of hard work to compete against teams like Oak Grove,” Reed said. “It’s important that as a Natchez High family we do things to come together and get behind each other. This is a chance to get everyone excited and feel good. We hope to keep it going and bring unity to the Natchez High family.”

While Natchez is celebrating a huge victory, Cathedral is smarting over another hard-fought loss.

The Green Wave are 0-5 on the season, but have been in every game except the season opener.

Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said the team isn’t letting the 0-5 start get to them as they prepare for West Lincoln on Friday.

“Normally when teams get off to a bad start, there is some dissention in the ranks,” Beesley said. “But this team has pulled tighter after the rough start. Last week we got the best effort as a team throughout the whole year. We just have to keep working.”

Cathedral’s first two region games were against the top two teams in the region, and now that the Green Wave have them out of the way, Beesley hopes to notch a few marks in the win column.

“We’ve got to get over that hump,” Beesley said. “We’re playing close games, but we need to be able to take the next step and get a win. The kids are continuing to work harder and I think once we do get that first win, they’ll settle down a little bit.”

Franklin County coach Trent Hammond was feeling a similar feeling Beesley is currently feeling after week two of the season, when the Bulldogs sat at 0-2.

However, since then Franklin County has reeled off five wins in a row, including a 49-24 victory over Wilkinson County last Friday in their region opener.

A big part of the Franklin County winning streak has been the improved play of its offense.

Hammond said the reason for the improvement is players are learning the system.

“I think our kids have a better idea of how to block certain things,” Hammond said. “Our offense is one that is different than the typical scheme of most offenses. It took the kids a few weeks of playing inside this offense to figure out what’s really going on and I think they’re getting a little bit of an idea of what to do on each play and series of things.”

On the private school side, Trinity took its first loss of the season in a 27-25 road defeat to Class AA River Oaks.

The Mustangs are the second of four consecutive Class AA opponents the Class A Saints are facing as they try and get ready for the playoffs.

“We were beaten by a very fine football team,” Trinity coach David King said. “There’s never and shame in losing to a school as good as River Oaks. Losing by two points on the road against a very fine program isn’t anything to be upset about. I’m glad the team took it hard. This gives us a wake up call to improve upon some things.”

King said the Saints are learning a new defense this season, which is leading to some communication breakdowns that are allowing big plays.

“We’re running a completely different defense than what we’ve run the past eight or 10 years,” King said. “It’s a solid defense, but we’re giving up big plays from communication breakdowns we can’t afford to have. We’re unaccustomed to giving up big plays, but we’re giving them up to some good football teams.

The Saints take on undefeated Brookhaven Acdademy this Friday and then face two-time defending state champion Centreville the following week.

“When I got the schedule this year, I thought these games were great, great games that would prepare us for the ultimate goal,” King said. “These games are preparing us for everything, that’s what’s good about them.”

While Trinity is smarting from its first loss, Adams County Christian is coming off a huge homecoming win over Riverdale.

The Rebels’ 53-14 win is even more impressive when you consider the team could hardly practice early in the week because of illness.

“Our kids really showed a lot of heart, because we had a real rough week with sickness,” ACCS coach Paul Hayles said. “We couldn’t practice Monday or Tuesday and on Wednesday we had only about 60 percent. I’m real proud of the team for coming out with a win.”

The Rebels rolled up 369 rushing yards in the game, with 209 coming from Brandon Sanders, who did that on just nine carries.

“We were able to take control with our run game and defense,” Hayles said. “It’s a whole team effort. The quarterback protecting the ball, the offensive line creating openings and the running back hitting the hole as hard as he can. When everything works together, things go well.”