NATCHEZ — Despite allowing only 5 total yards to Bowling Green toward the end of the second quarter, a blocked punt set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Cameron Cowart to bring the Buccaneers within 15 of the Cathedral Green Wave in the opening round of the playoffs.

With a minute remaining in the first half of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools AAA playoff tilt, Cathedral wide receiver Jardarius Anderson waited for the ensuing kickoff in the 21-6 contest, looking to recapture the momentum for his team. The kick sailed over his head and bounced dead at the 10-yard line when Anderson picked it up, rolled to his left and went down the sidelines, breaking tackles all the way to the 9-yard line. The return set up a Connor Mire touchdown pass to Andrew Beesley with 17 seconds remaining in the half, extending Cathedral’s lead to 28-6.

“JJ (Jenkins) just kept saying, ‘Run, run, follow me,’” Anderson said. “It was going to the left anyway, so I followed him and all of the blocking was already set up over there. I think it was big, but the way we’re playing defense, we would have stopped them.”

As Anderson acknowledged, defense was the story of the game for the Green Wave. Cathedral stalled one Bowling Green drive after another with a Will Wallace sack here, a James Coley collision there and several patented Robert Hargrave stuffs. Hargrave led the team with eight tackles, while Wallace led the team with three tackles for loss.

“Hargrave is back in shape and Will has it rolling,” Rushing said. “He played really well. Coley was all over the place. Really you could pick out everybody and say they did a great job. We were where we were supposed to be on defense.”

The combined defensive effort held Bowling Green to 11 total yards entering the fourth quarter before Cathedral started making substitutions. Wallace said the defense had to set the tone.

“It’s the playoffs, you have to,” Wallace said. “We were trying to make a statement.”

Bowling Green finished the game with 60 total yards, while Cathedral had 283 — 221 of which came through the air.

While the Green Wave thwarted any sign of offense from Bowling Green, Cathedral was letting it rip through the air. Cathedral quarterback Connor Mire completed 17 of his 29 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

Going into the contest, Rushing said the team wanted to take advantage of mismatches in the secondary, particularly using James Allen Coley as a tight end.

“We felt with what they were playing coverage-wise there were some things we could throw at them that they couldn’t cover,” Rushing said. “We got Coley in there and mixed some things up. I think we’re going to have to get balanced going further. The more looks we can get Connor, the better. Really it’s about more experience, and we’re trying to keep everybody fresh too.”

By passing it more often than running it in the first half, Rushing was able to limit Dee Fleming, who is still trying to get his sprained ankle back to 100 percent. Fleming ran the ball six times for 50 yards, including the first touchdown of the game on a three-yard scamper.

Craig Bradley, who spelled for Fleming a lot and led the team with 60 rushing yards, scored the second touchdown of the game with a 4-yard run in the second quarter, giving Cathedral a 14-0 lead. The Green Wave extended its lead on the next drive when Mire found Coley on a 14-yard pass.

“I thought Connor did great,” Rushing said. “High school quarterback sitting back in the pocket and throwing the routes that he did with great reads. His presence in the pocket (was great), and man, he did great overall.”

To go along with his electric returns, Anderson recorded six grabs for 105 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter. Anderson said the team needed to rely on its passing attack against Bowling Green to prepare for bigger situations down the road.

“We’re trying to get back on rhythm really,” Anderson said. “We’re trying to get on the same page in the throwing game because we’re going to need that in the end.”

Following the win, Cathedral will travel to play Indianola in the second round of the MAIS playoffs.