NATCHEZ — With Natchez High’s playoff chances potentially on the line Friday against Terry, the Bulldog defense took matters into their own hands.

The defense allowed Terry just 155 total yards and three points and the offense finally got in gear in the third quarter to lead the Bulldogs to a 34-3 Region 3-6A victory.

“That was impressive defense,” Natchez coach Lance Reed said. “Those guys are really going to have to settle in and play to their potential in the remaining games. We saw a taste of that and some pretty good defense tonight.”

With the victory, Natchez improved to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in region play. Brandon fell to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in region play.

With Natchez’s win and Hattiesburg’s 42-29 victory over Oak Grove, Natchez is currently in a three-way tie for third place in the region along with Brandon and Oak Grove.

Those three teams are one game behind Meridian and Hattiesburg, who are tied for the region lead with a 4-1 record.

Only the top four teams in a region make the playoffs.

But with region games remaining against Wingfield and Hattiesburg, Reed said he isn’t worried about the standings.

“We’re just going one game at a time, not worrying about the playoff scenarios,” Reed said. “I don’t even know the playoff scenarios. We’re going to enjoy this win right now, but our focus will be right on Wingfield as soon as possible.”

Natchez never trailed against Terry, as the Bulldog offense came out throwing the ball and taking advantage of soft Terry coverage.

Bulldogs quarterback Javon Washington was 6-for-8 for 59 yards on Natchez’s opening drive of the game, capping it off with a 22-yard scoring toss to Kevin Bailey on a post pattern.

Washington finished the game with 148 passing yards and a touchdown.

After forcing a Terry punt, Natchez had another long, time-consuming drive that resulted in its second score of the game.

The Bulldogs traveled 82 yards in 12 plays, converting three third downs on the drive.

Then, on fourth and 12 from the Terry 21-yard line, Reed reached into his bag of tricks.

Washington threw a lateral to running back Derrian Johnson, who then threw to a wide open Richard Chatman in the end zone to give Natchez a 14-0 lead after Dominique Salter’s extra point.

Terry got its only points of the night on a 24-yard field goal by Kent Milsap with five minutes to go in the first half.

Reed said passing the ball early was a chance the coaching staff wanted to take because of the Terry defensive strategy.

“There are things that we see that cause us to take some chances here and there,” Reed said. “We had a chance and we executed some and some we didn’t execute. So we’ve got to get better at that.”

While the Natchez passing attack staked the Bulldogs to a 14-3 halftime lead, the NHS rushing attack, and specifically senior tailback Joel Davis, would seal the victory with a huge third quarter.

Davis rushed for 107 of his team-high 152 rushing yards in the third quarter and scored three touchdowns.

Davis’ first touchdown came on an 11-yard run that capped off a short 27-yard drive after a long punt return by Brian Isaac set Natchez up deep in Terry’s territory.

The Natchez defense gave their offense another short field when Justin Hamilton forced Terry quarterback Deshun Dixon to fumble and Greg Jackson recovered at the Terry 41.

A fourth-down completion to Santorius Pollard set Natchez up at the 2-yard line, and Davis punched it in on the next play to make the score 27-3.

Davis capped off his spectacular quarter with a 64-yard burst right up the middle on Natchez’s next possession.

“I was proud of the guys finishing the game,” Reed said. “We had a few lulls here and there but we finished it off pretty strong. I appreciate the guys effort for that.”