NATCHEZ — Cathedral honored former standout Von Hutchins at halftime of their game against Mount Olive.

Unfortunately for the Green Wave, the only time Hutchins took the field was during the halftime ceremony. They sure could have used him during the actual game.

The Cathedral offense managed only 59 total yards and Mount Olive’s powerful rushing attack ground up yards and clock in a 20-6 Pirate victory.

Once again, Cathedral (0-5, 0-2) was done in by costly penalties, which prevented the Green Wave from scoring points on two separate occasions.

“Offensively we have to work to get every yard we can get,” Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said. “When we get in long yardage sits, not much we can do.”

The first costly penalty came on Cathedral’s second possession of the game.

Trailing 6-0, the Green Wave had driven inside Mount Olive’s 20-yard line.

On fourth down, quarterback Dylan White hit Daniel Huffines across the middle for a first down at the 2-yard line.

However, a holding penalty was called on the play, and instead of having first and goal from the 2, it was fourth and 16 from the 25.

White’s fourth down pass on the next play was incomplete.

“That was a big play because we could have scored right there, instead it came back to the 25-yard line,” Beesley said. “That put us in long yardage, and couldn’t get anything going in long yardage situations.”

Cathedral’s defense tried to keep the Green Wave in the game.

Mount Olive jumped out to a 14-0 lead on touchdown runs by Danzell Keller and Rueben Ducksworth, but Cathedral got a touchdown back when Huffines intercepted a Ducksworth pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown with 2:12 remaining in the first half.

Cathedral could have gone into halftime either tied or down just two points, but another costly penalty on Mount Olive’s next possession prevented points once again.

Ducksworth was sacked and fumbled the ball and it was returned for a touchdown. However, Ducksworth’s facemask was pulled on the play, which resulted in a penalty that took the points off the board.

Cathedral had one more decent scoring chance in the game, as the Wave took the second half kickoff and marched down the field.

However, two dropped passes, one on second down and another on fourth down, ended the drive inside the Mount Olive 30-yard line.

“Coming out of halftime, we challenged them and they came out made a good drive,” Beesley said. “We made a couple of first downs, but then dropped a few passes that hurt us. I thought we could have got the first down and punched it in. I hoped we could have tied it up there at the beginning of the third quarter, but we just couldn’t get anything going after that.”

Mount Olive put the game out of reach with another Ducksworth touchdown run on the Pirates’ next possession, and Cathedral’s offense couldn’t put anymore drives together.

The highlight of the night was the honoring of Hutchins at halftime.

Hutchins, who graduated from Cathedral in 1999, went on to letter four years at Ole Miss and spent five years in the NFL with the Colts, Texans and Falcons.

Hutchins was presented with a Cathedral No. 5 jersey, and sign bearing the No. 5 and Hutchins’ name was unveiled underneath the scoreboard.

Hutchins was touched by the ceremony.

“It’s very special to be able to come back to where you first started,” Hutchins said. “To be back with your family and friends, the ones who were there from the very beginning. This is something that’s dear to my heart.”

Hutchins wasn’t just honored for his on-field accomplishments, but his academic and community work as well.

The entire Natchez Falcons youth football team, the team that Hutchins helped get off the ground last year, came out to give him a plaque for his service to the team.

“When you have the opportunity to give back to the community, you do it.” Hutchins said. “(Natchez) is where it began. You want the youth to continue what you started.”