NATCHEZ — After five straight losses, it took just one quarter for Cathedral to get back to what they do well and pick up a much-needed victory.

Tied 21-21 at halftime against Pisgah Friday night, the Green Wave took advantage of several Pisgah mistakes to score 27 points in the quarter en route to a 48-27 victory.

Cathedral coach Craig Beesley said the team changed some of their blocking schemes at halftime, but the big key to the big third quarter was just taking advantage of opportunities.

“We caught a couple of good bounces in the third quarter,” Beesley said. “We blocked a punt and recovered two squib kicks.”

The Green Wave started the game down 13-0, but charged back strong to tie the score at the half.

“It was important to tie the score at halftime after we started down 13-0,” Beesley said. “We caught breaks and took advantage of them.”

Cathedral is off this Friday before closing its season on the road against West Lincoln on Nov. 7.

Despite the fact that the Green Wave are eliminated from playoff contention, Beesley said it is important to grab a win in the season finale to finish the season with a 5-5 record.

“It would be tremendous to fight back after we went through that tough five-game span,” Beesley said. “We played very close to the second and third place teams in the region. If we can finish 5-5, it will be a big boost to our team.”

While Cathedral has no chance to make the playoffs, Natchez High can clinch a playoff berth one of two ways Friday night.

All the Bulldogs have to do is beat a winless Wingfield team, but even if the Bulldogs lose, they can still clinch a spot if Brandon loses to Oak Grove and Jim Hill loses to Meridian.

Oak Grove and Meridian are both ranked in the top five in the state in Class 5A.

It is the same situation Natchez faced last year, but a home loss to Wingfield kept the Bulldogs out of the playoffs.

“We won’t look past them,” Natchez coach Lance Reed said. “We want to get redemption. We are going to mean business with them this week.”

Natchez is in prime position to clinch a playoff spot thanks to a big win over Terry last Friday.

Rico Richardson was the star of the 38-21 win, accounting for about 300 all-purpose yards, Reed said.

“It was a big win for us,” Reed said. “We’re proud of our efforts Friday night. It puts us in a great position for the last few spots in our district race.”

Another team that can clinch a playoff spot with a win is Jefferson County.

The Tigers defeated North Pike 36-28 last Friday and need a win over winless Wilkinson County to be the fourth and final seed out of Region 7-3A.

Franklin County needs a victory over Amite County to clinch second place in that same region.

Ferriday will host Farmerville in a key District 2-2A game while Vidalia faces a must win on the road against District 3-3A foe Avoyelles.

Block also plays a key district game this week, although they will play on Thursday night against St. Mary in Jonesville.