BROOKHAVEN &045; Thank goodness for an explosive offense.

The Cathedral Green Wave scored 36 points in the first quarter en route to a wild 56-34 win over Region 4-1A rival West Lincoln, but the 34 points yielded by the defense was too much to handle for a divisional contest.

The Green Wave piled up 429 yards total offense but gave up 409 in the process, which makes a defensive guy just sick.

&uot;They just ran it right at us,&uot; CHS defensive coordinator Craig Beesley said. &uot;(Their guy) was just a straight-ahead runner. They were moving the ball. They ran a tight formation. We never did stop them the first half. It wasn’t a good

night for our defense. We’ve got to go back to work and correct that for next week when we play Mize.&uot;

But again, thank goodness for an explosive offense. So explosive that the Green Wave scored on its first play of the game when Garrett Jones caught a 58-yard pass from Turner Smith just 18 seconds in for the 7-0 lead.

The Bears then drove on their first drive to score when running back Alan Skates &045; who finished with 150 yards on 20 carries &045; scored on a 4-yard run, and a two-point conversion gave them an 8-7 lead. Earlier in the drive the Wave loaded up in the box, and the Bears connected on a 50-yard pass down to the 10 to set up the score.

The Green Wave answered with another big play when Smith hit Jones on a 46-yard touchdown pass for a 15-8 lead, and the Bears fumbled the kickoff with Charlie Lane recovering. Smith then hit Michael Blain on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 8:34 left for the 22-8 lead.

The Bears got the ball on the following kickoff but fumbled again, and the Green Wave scored again Jonathan Jackson when ran in from 8 yards out with 6:11 left for a 29-8 lead.

Cathedral held West Lincoln to a punt and put together another drive, this one ending with a 13-yard scoring pass from Smith to Jones for a 36-8 lead with 1:03 left in the first quarter.

Jones finished with four touchdown catches, while Smith threw for six touchdowns.

&uot;Our receivers had more speed than their defensive backs,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We hurt them with the short passes, and Garrett Jones had a good night. The offense controlled the game and did real well.&uot;

Cathedral took a 49-22 lead at halftime after two more touchdowns and broke the 50-point barrier in the third when Smith hit Jonathan Jackson for a 14-yard scoring pass with 3:14 left for a 56-22 lead.