Brandon’s Jarius Norwood spoiled the senior festivities at Natchez High by scoring four touchdowns en route to an easy 34-6 over the lackluster Bulldogs.

Coming in to the game, Natchez coach Elbert &uot;Mo&uot; Lyles did not view the game with the usual sentimentalism regarding his seniors.

Despite its being their last home game, he saw the contest more in terms of the big picture.

&uot;We’re going to play this game like any other, hoping to use it as a foundation for next year,&uot; Lyles said. &uot;We need to cut mental mistakes and come out of the chute fast.&uot;

Motivation could have been a problem for Brandon looking across at their 1-8 opponents, but a win at Natchez would be special, said Brandon coach Sammy Dantone.

&uot;We have to be ready. They have some great athletes, plus we have never won in Natchez,&uot; he said.

For Dantone, some streaks were made to be broken.

Brandon set the tone early on by scoring on their first offensive play, a Norwood 49-yard run. As field position continued to favor the visitors, the Bulldogs used a resourceful running attack to set up another tally. Norwood would bust in from nine yards out to give his team a 14-0 lead late in the quarter.

But as Natchez’s offense continued to sputter it was the defense, lead by the outstanding play of Don Jackson, that brought the crowd to life. A Natchez fumble recovery put them inside the Brandon 35-yard line.

But the hosts returned the generosity by fumbling soon after.

Brandon then marched down the field capped by Chris Porter’s 41-yard scoring catch with five minutes left in the half.

With liberal substitutions being made thereafter, the hosts drove inside the Brandon red zone a number of times without anything to show for it.

Edwin Skipper broke the shutout late in the third with an acrobatic scoring grab of 20 yards from the arm of Donald Butler.&t;