NATCHEZ – Cathedral quarterback Caleb Upton couldn’t help butsmile when asked about the first half of Friday night’s gameagainst Bogue Chitto. And really, who could blame him?

Upton completed 19 of 34 passes for 262 yards in the first half asthe Green Wave raced out to a 34-14 halftime lead en route to a47-21 victory over the Bobcats in a crucial Region 4-1A game.

“Whatever it takes to get a win, we’ll take it how we can get it,”Upton said. “But I’m not going to complain. I want to throw theball.”

Cathedral was more balanced in the second half as Upton onlyattempted 10 passes, completing six. He finished the gamecompleting 25 for 44 passes for 333 yards and fourtouchdowns.

The first half was a Green Wave aerial show as Upton completedpasses to five different receivers.

Cathedral coach Ron Rushing said the plan was to throw the ball atleast 40 times, and the Green Wave accomplished that goal.

“We thought we’d be able to throw the ball against them, but youstill have to execute,” Rushing said. “First of all, Caleb had allnight to throw because the offensive line did a great job ofblocking. Caleb read the defense well and spread the ball around,and (the receivers) made plays.”

In fact, four different Cathedral receivers had at least 64 yards,led by Carl Hammitte with four catches for 96 yards and atouchdown.

“We planned to use our receivers from the start,” Upton said. “Givethem a chance to do what they do best.”

Cathedral’s offense took off from the very start of the game.Daniel Huffines returned the opening kickoff 52 yards to the BogueChitto 17-yard line and it took Cathedral just 50 seconds to score,as Jadarius Ealey ran in from 5 yards out.

Bogue Chitto tied the score on a 63-yard run off a reverse byBrandon Wells, but that momentum would be short-lived.

Upton and the offense took just four plays to drive 63 yards andretake the lead when Ealey caught a screen pass and raced 23 yardsinto the end zone with 26 seconds remaining in the firstquarter.

That was the first of four consecutive touchdowns Cathedral wouldscore.

After a Bogue Chitto punt, Cathedral drove 72 yards in just nineplays, with the big play being a 35-yard completion to Hammitte. Hethen capped off the drive with a 19-yard touchdown reception on aslant pattern.

Two consecutive fumbles by Bogue Chitto led to two more touchdownsby Cathedral, the first came on a 3-yard run by Khalil Brice andthe second was on an 11-yard pass from Upton to Tyler Flemming with40 seconds remaining until halftime which made the score34-7.

But Bogue Chitto wasn’t going to go quietly.

The Bobcats drove 80 yards in 36 seconds, thanks to two long passesfrom quarterback Brock Roberts. He threw a 26-yard scoring pass toGermie Martin with just four seconds left in the half to make thehalftime score 34-14.

The Bobcats seemed to grab even more momentum when they scored ontheir second possession on a 46-yard pass from Roberts to Martinwith 6:51 left in the third quarter.

However, after slinging the ball all over the place in the firsthalf, Cathedral went to the run much more in the second half withgreat results.

Ealey and Brice combined to run for 26 yards, including a 4-yardtouchdown run by Brice with 2:22 left in the third quarter that putCathedral back comfortably ahead.

Upton completed the next drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass toSemmes White off of play action.

Cathedral finished the game with 103 yards rushing, with 102 ofthose yards coming in the second half.

With the win, Cathedral clinched a playoff spot, and will win theregion with either a win next week over Dexter or in two weeksagainst Salem.

It would be the first time Cathedral has won its region since 1993,which was also the year the Green Wave advanced to the Class 1Astate championship game.

“This was a huge win for us,” Rushing said. “We were up front withthe kids this week in telling them what was on the line. They cameout and responded to it.”

Bogue Chitto (5-4, 3-2) hosts Salem for Homecoming Fridaynight.