NATCHEZ — Trailing by eight points and with a struggling offense, the Cathedral Green Wave defense needed to carry the team to its first playoff victory since 1997.

And that’s just what they did.

After allowing two touchdowns in the first half, the Green Wave defense shut out Noxapater in the second half and allowed the Tigers to amass just 76 yards in the final 24 minutes.

That defensive dominance gave the Cathedral offense a chance to right itself, which it did, scoring two second-half touchdowns to secure the 21-14 victory.

Noxapater had four possessions in the second half, and none of them came close to scoring.

The first drive ended in a punt and the second drive ended when the Tigers were stoned on fourth and one at midfield.

Noxapater’s third drive was stymied by a fumble and its fourth and final drive was stopped on downs late in the game.

“In the second half the defense took control of the game,” Cathedral coach Ron Rushing said. “Coach (Craig) Beesley made some adjustments (at halftime) and the kids did what they were supposed to do.”

Cathedral outgained Noxapater 342-170 in the game and had 20 first downs to the Tigers’ nine.

The Green Wave will travel to take on Dexter in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Friday.

The Bulldogs handed Cathedral its only Region 4-1A loss of the year when they defeated the Green Wave 26-6 on Oct. 29.

Dexter beat South Leake 43-24 last Friday to advance in the playoffs.

Trinity Episcopal

The Trinity Episcopal Saints didn’t have any of the late-game drama that took place in the Cathedral game.

They just steamrolled another opponent.

This time the unfortunate foe was University Christian, which the Saints dismantled 55-14 in a game that wasn’t even that close.

Trinity led 48-7 at halftime before calling off the dogs in the second half.

The domination was so complete that the Saints didn’t even have to throw the ball. They attempted only five passes and didn’t complete any of them.

However, they ran for 504 yards, mostly on long touchdown gallops.

The Saints had four touchdown runs of longer than 40 yards in the game, and another that went for 29 yards.

Kent King, Tip McKenzie and Givonni Dent combined to rush for 461 of the 504 yards and score six touchdowns.

“I would hate to have to scout this bunch, because we have several different people that can score,” Trinity coach David King said. “They’re unselfish players that feed off one another and want one another to score.”

Trinity (13-0) will face its toughest Class A opponent to date Friday night when the Saints host Sylva-Bay Academy.

Sylva-Bay (12-0) boasts Dandy Dozen player Cody Prewitt and has won its two playoff games by a combined score of 109-6.