The Ferriday Lil Trojans struck first Saturday morning, but the Miss-Lou Saints had just the right response.

Saints quarterback Gantrell Rogers rushed for one score and passed for another on explosive plays, leading his team to a 22-6 victory in 6- to 8-year-old youth football action at Natchez High School.

“In practice, we are working on running the same plays down the field,” Saints coach Kenneth Newborne said. “It’s just the same plays over and over.”

Rogers put Miss-Lou (2-1) on the board by connecting with Saints tight end Patrick Banks Jr. for a 60-yard touchdown, which is something Newborne said is also on his team’s practice list.

“A lot of the C team players are not ready for passes — they do a lot of run plays. We are trying to change that and how we approach the game,” he said. “We are working on passing, and it’s good to do because the opposing team is not ready for it.”

Rogers also rushed for a 60-yard touchdown, and ran in two 2-point conversion attempts.

Trojan quarterback Robert Taylor broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run to start the game, but Ferriday coach Carlton Robinson realized that wasn’t enough.

“It is what it is,” he said. “We have a lot of improvement to do. We feel like we could have won it, but we had a few mistakes that cost us the game.”

Despite the loss, Robinson said he was proud of the Trojans (0-2).

“They played well compared to how we were at the beginning of the season,” he said.

Rogers also led the Saints’ defense with two tackles for loss. Jamar Campbell added one tackle for loss, and KJ Newborne had one sack.

“We stress for them to get in the backfield,” Kenneth Newborne said. “We want them to attack the quarterback, and we tell them to not wait for the play to develop. If they execute before the play develops, that will cause sacks, fumbles and lost yardage. They played good, but we can play better.”

Jakory Brown added the final score for the Saints on a 23-yard rush.