Cathedral falls to Salem, adds to recent losses

Published 12:47 am Saturday, October 26, 2013

Cathedral High School quarterback Thomas Garrity passes to receiver Ishmael Blackmon as Salem High School defensive end Aaron Quinn tries to swat it out of the air Friday night at D’Evereux Stadium. (Justin Sellers \ The Natchez Democrat)

Cathedral High School quarterback Thomas Garrity passes to receiver Ishmael Blackmon as Salem High School defensive end Aaron Quinn tries to swat it out of the air Friday night at D’Evereux Stadium. (Justin Sellers \ The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School was unable to snap its recent string of losses as Salem High School tallied 321 rushing yards in a 42-26 loss for the Green Wave Friday night.

The Green Wave’s normally strong passing game managed just 156 yards through the air, and quarterback Thomas Garrity was 16 for 33 in passing with three interceptions.

Things got off to a rocky start for Cathedral, as it was driving downfield before Stevie Quinn scooped an untimely fumble up and returned 70 yards for a touchdown with 9:55 remaining in the quarter. Quinn added a 5-yard touchdown carry with 3:57 to go in the first, and Salem had a 14-0 lead after one.

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Salem scored again to open the second quarter on a Tae Smith 1-yard carry at the 11:57 mark. Cathedral finally got on the board with 9:35 remaining in the half on a 4-yard carry by Christian Jenkins, who finished the game with 15 carries for 84 yards. Jenkins scored again with 7:12 left in the half on a 3-yard run, but Salem responded with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Shannon Damond with 35.9 seconds remaining. The Wildcats led 28-12 at intermission.

In the third quarter, Salem scored again on a 34-yard carry by Quinn with 7:13 to go. Josh Wilkerson had a 20-yard fumble return for Cathedral at the 2:34 mark in the third.

The Wildcats scored one more time in the fourth quarter on a Roger Nix 36-yard run with 11:26 to go in the game. With 7:33 left in the game, J.J. Jenkins blocked a punt for Cathedral, and the Green Wave’s Jardarius Anderson recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Garrity added 22 yards on the ground to Jenkins’ 84, and Anderson led in receiving with six catches for 60 yards. Ishmael Blackmon added four catches for 54 yards.

On defense, the Green Wave were led by Ty Brown, who finished with 14 tackles. Zach Flattmann added 12 tackles, and Jenkins and James Alan Coley each totaled nine tackles apiece. Josh Wilkerson had eight tackles, and Jacob Pahnka tallied six tackles.

Cathedral (6-4, 4-3) will host Dexter High School next week.