Not even The Rev. David O’Connor taking over the PA duties and the team getting four turnovers in the first half could save Cathedral High School as Silliman Institute shut out the Green Wave Friday, 33-0.

Despite the score, Cathedral was hanging with the Wildcats in the first half but could not sustain a long drive.

“We would have a good drive of a few first downs going then drop back five yards, make mistakes, then have to punt,” Cathedral coach Chuck Darbonne said. “That seems to be how it has been going the last few weeks. We would play well but not get into the 20 and score.

“I’m very proud of our kids. They played very well. We just could not execute offensively.”

On the first drive of the game, the Green Wave drove into the red zone, but as soon as it got there, Bryson Moore fumbled it to the Wildcats.

The Wildcats made Cathedral pay for the turnover on its second play, as Trace McManus got behind the coverage and Myles Simmons hit him for a 76-yard touchdown at 6:05 in the first quarter. Senior Cedric Dunbar blocked the kick, limiting the damage to 6-0.

For almost the rest of the half, the teams battled for field position with both sides making stops until Cathedral senior Brye Edwards made a leaping interception in Wildcats’ territory.

Cathedral did not capitalize and turned the ball over on downs at the 32 yard-line, but it got the ball right back at the Wildcats’ 21-yard-line as Jones Richardson fell on Jack Jackson’s fumble.

The Green Wave’s J.t. Taylor was intercepted three plays into the drive, with Ben Lejune returning the ball all the way to the Green Wave 6 yard line with 56 seconds to go in the half. Jackson found a hole into the end zone on the next play and also ran in the 2-point conversion making the score 14-0.

On Cathedral’s next kickoff, Ben White found a hole going down the right sideline on a 73-yard kickoff return and came back to the sideline yelling to his teammates, “We’re still in this.”

Three plays into the next drive, however, Ben Foster was intercepted by Jackson. Jackson nearly returned it for a touchdown but Edwards stopped him deep in Green Wave territory.

“(Silliman) executed very well in the first half,” Darbonne said. “Offensively for us, we played very good at times but were inconsistent.”

The Wildcats would score three more times in the second half. On the first drive of the second half, Silliman converted a fourth down and on the next play, Reed Rushing found pay dirt from 3 yards out at 7:39 in the third quarter. Jackson’s kick was good and the score was 21-0.

Taylor was intercepted again on Cathedral’s ensuing drive, and Jackson returned it 90 yards for a touchdown with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.

The Wildcats made it 33-0 with 9:15 left in the game on a 21-yard run by Lejune.

Darbonne said he told his team they would be hearing negative things over the coming days, but he wanted the Green Wave to fight and remain a family.

“People will talk but we will stay together as a team,” Darbonne said. “We will fight through it and fix the things we can fix.”

Cathedral (5-5, 1-2) will next play in the first round of the MAIS Class AAA Playoffs against an opponent to be determined.