As a mass of Natchez High School football players made their way to the bleachers in front of the school’s band for the playing of the alma mater Friday night, many stood defeated with their heads hanging low.

Despite dropping its homecoming game to South Jones, 42-35 — a game that was tied three times on the night — Natchez coach Roy Rigsby said it wasn’t difficult to come up with something for his post-game speech.

“It’s not hard at all, you just tell the truth,” Rigsby said. “If you’re honest with your kids about everything, they will respect you. We have a lot of heartbroken kids that gave a whole lot on this field — that went through moments of adversity. I’m proud of them for the way they played. I really am.”

Rigsby emphasized the importance of sticking together, in which the Bulldogs did plenty of in the loss.

Natchez trailed 14-13 going into halftime but came out strong in the second half, forcing the Braves to punt on their first drive. The Bulldogs took the lead, 21-14, with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter after Jatavis Melton ran in a 22-yard touchdown. Shavoké Herrington caught the 2-point conversion from Chris Scott.

South Jones would teeter the score twice more, before finally sealing the win when Braves’ Travis Conner caught an interception from Scott with 14 seconds left in the game.

With 2:10 remaining, Shiwon Lovett caught what would be the winning touchdown on a 25-yard grab from South Jones quarterback John Mitchell. Lovett caught two other touchdowns on the night, ending with four receptions for 132 yards.

Mitchell threw for 213 yards on 11-for-23 passing with one interception. He also rushed for 139 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns for the Braves.

“South Jones is a very good team, and I think we knew that going in,” Rigsby said. “The emotions are there. I think that’s what hurts the most. It bothers me to see them hurt, because that’s family. I can take the pain for myself but when you see pain in their eyes as a coach, you feel it too.”

Scott ended the game with 264 yards passing, going 13-for-20 with one interception. He threw touchdown passes to Melton and Jaylin Pollard.

Melton led the Bulldogs, rushing for 174 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. He caught two passes for 88 yards and a score.

EJ Woods added 95 yards rushing on 20 carries and one touchdown for Natchez.

While Rigsby said it is tough to see his players so distraught, he told them they should have nothing to be ashamed of.

“I’m really just proud of the improvement overall,” he said. “Sometimes you might not win the game, but you progress. That’s what we are doing.

“The score was flipping this way, that way but bad things happened on both sides. It was a very emotional game, but these guys stuck together. They backed each other and fought all the way through.”