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ELLISVILLE — In a battle of two of the top teams in MHSAA Region 3-5A Friday night, the South Jones High School Braves defeated the Natchez High School Bulldogs 29-14 to remain undefeated in region play.

South Jones (6-2, 2-0) scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and led Natchez High 15-0 at the end of the quarter. The Braves’ defense held the Bulldogs out of the end zone until the fourth quarter. Even though Natchez High scored 14 points in the final quarter, so did South Jones.

After the game was over, Bulldogs head coach Steve Davis said that there are two things that really bothered him — getting off to a slow start offensively and the defense not getting off the field on third down, especially third and long.

“We don’t start games well. When you’re on the road, it can bite you in the butt and tonight, it bit us in the butt,” Davis said. “Early in the game we had opportunities, but we couldn’t convert. We didn’t make enough plays and they made a few more plays. The biggest thing was moving the ball and penalties were killing drives offensively.”

Quarterback Kaden Walton completed 10 of 16 passes for 119 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions to go with 27 yards rushing on five carries. Carl McDonald led the Bulldogs’ ground game with 75 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. Ashton Minor had five catches for 67 yards and one score.

“Defensively, we couldn’t get off the field on third down. Tackling continues to be something we have to work on. Either misaligned or busted coverage or missed tackles. That’s been our Achilles heel the last few weeks. We just can’t seal the deal and that falls on me. Finishing drives. Getting off the field. I take that personal.”

Davis added that he will have to do something different in practice so that those things don’t continue to happen during the game.

Kyrin Johnson had a team-high 10 tackles while Micah Moore had eight and one-half tackles and Jeremiah Tillery had six and one-half tackles. Kameron Morgan had three and a half tackles as well as two fumble recoveries.

“Back to the drawing board. Even in the wins, we’re not playing four quarters. With the loss, it hurts even more. I’ve got to do something to get them playing the kind of football they were playing earlier in the season,” Davis said. “It’s hard to come to Jones County and win.”

Natchez High (5-3, 1-1) next plays at Region 3-5A foe Florence High School next Friday at 7 p.m.