WOODVILLE — Larry Chatman and Derrian Johnson combined for more than 300 rushing yards and all three of Natchez High’s touchdowns as the Bulldogs defeated the Wilkinson County Wildcats 21-12 Friday night.

Chatman scored two touchdowns and finished with 149 yards rushing on 21 carries. Johnson had 22 carries for 173 yards and one touchdown. Johnson was not as strong in the passing game for NHS, going 5-for-15 passing for 40 yards and two interceptions.

Even though the Bulldogs had 373 yards of total offense, they also turned the ball over three times, which kept the Wildcats in the game.

“We couldn’t contain their quarterback (Johnson) as well as we could have running the ball,” Wilkinson County first-year head coach Kenneth Brown said. “I think our defense is more physical than it has been.”

Natchez High School head coach Lance Reed said his team had a lot of things to work on despite the win.

“We made a lot of errors,” Reed said. “Offensively, we were very inconsistent, and we just have to go back and fix some of those things. Defensively, we played hard, but we had a couple of crucial errors there as well. I give credit to Wilkinson County for coming out and playing a hard-fought game.”

Reed said the errors were mental in nature, and his team must improve on those in order to keep winning this season.

“It was a combination of missed assignments, missed alignments and penalties,” Reed said. “It’s the kind of things you can’t continue to do to win. I’m thankful it’s the first game. We have room for improvement, and that’s what we’ll shoot for.”

Wilkinson County scored on a fumble return by Elton Jolla and a 40-yard touchdown pass from Devin Voorhies to Darius Carter.

“I thought (we) played well, and did some good things,” Brown said. “But we had a few busted assignments on defense.”

Natchez High (1-0) hosts Jefferson County at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Wilkinson County (0-1) will hit the road next Friday as the Wildcats travel to Liberty to take on Amite County at 7:30 p.m.