NATCHEZ – The Wesson Cobras did not care that they were playingagainst Cathedral in the Green Wave’s homecoming game Friday night,at D’Evereaux Stadium.

All they cared about was winning a football game, which theydid; a 27-16 Division 6-2A victory over winless Cathedral.

“It was a tough loss,” said Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley. “Ididn’t think we played with as much intensity as we should have. Wedidn’t play as well as we’re capable of.”

Instead of using a wishbone offense, Wesson came out in a Wing-Tformation. “They caught us by surprise in the first half,” Beesleysaid.

Wesson plays host to St. Andrew’s on Friday night, whileCathedral will host Hinds AHS in key divisional matchups. Game timeis set for 7:30 p.m.

Wesson (4-5, 1-2) racked up 329 yards on theground, led by Marcus Corley’s 108 yards on 13 carries.

“Corley, Russell Robinson and Billy Ray Miller did a good jobrunning the ball tonight,” said Wesson head coach Ronald Greer. “Itfeels good to stop a three-game losing streak.”

The Cobras jumped out to a 7-0 lead on 3-yard run by quarterbackJason Shannon. Nick Gunter added the PAT try with 5:23 left in thefirst period.

Cathedral (0-7, 0-4) cut the lead to 7-3 on a 28-yard by ByronZerby at the 10:20 mark of the second quarter.

Shannon tossed a 10-yard scoring strike to Kent Hoaglin with7:36 remaining in the second period. Gunter’s second PAT attempt ofthe night was good and the Cobras had extended their lead to14-3.

Cathedral answered that score with an 11-yard touchdown passfrom Bart Lane to March Steckler. The 2-point conversion run failedand with 4:58 remaining in the first half, the Green Wave hadreduced their deficit to 14-9 at the intermission.

The Cobras took a 20-9 lead with 4:01 left in the third quarter.Emanuel Sinclair found paydirt from 5 yards away. The conversionrun failed.

The final stanza was very eventful for both teams.

With 4:33 left in the game, Cathedral’s Jim Sandel blockedGunter’s 20-yard field goal attempt. Conor Gibson picked up theball and was on his way to the end zone when an officialinadvertently blew his whistle.

Cathedral got the ball at the Wesson 8, instead of 6 points.

With 3:12 remaining in the game, Turner Smith threw a 10-yardpass to Clay Hammons, who then lateraled the ball to Ben Eidt, whoran 20 yards for a touchdown to cut the Cobra’s lead to 20-16.

Wesson put the game out of reach with 1:06 left on the clock.Russell Robinson scored from 1-yard out. Gunter’s PAT try wassuccessful as the Cobras realized their final margin of victory,27-16.

Defensively, Miller paced Wesson with 15tackles. Robinson added 11 tackles. Josh McCormick had 5 tacklesalong with 3 sacks. Hoaglin and Matt Ishman had fumble recoveries.Corley and Charles Powell had interceptions. Robinson and MichaelBlue had blocked punts.

Wesson held Cathedral to 48 total yards in the second half.@Bbstandings:

STATISTICS W NC First Downs 168 Rushes-Yards 57-222 30-85 Passing Yards 10 68 Total Yards 232 153Passes 1-4-1 5-16-1 Punts-Average 3-40.0 N/A Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-2Penalties-Yards 7-50 5-55 WESSON 7 7 6 7 – 27 CATHEDRAL 0 90 7 – 16

FIRST QUARTER Wesson-Shannon 4 run (Gunterkick), 5:23.

SECOND QUARTER NC-Zerby 28 FG, 10:20. Wesson-Hoaglin 10 pass from Shannon (Gunter kick),7:36. NC- Steckler 11pass from Lane (run failed), 4:58.

THIRD QUARTER Wesson-Sinclair 5 run (runfailed), 4:01.

FOURTH QUARTER NC- Eidt 20 run (Zerbykick),3:12. Wesson- Robinson 1 run (Gunter kick), 1:06.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING: Wesson, Corley13-108, Miller 10-50, Sinclair 4-45, Robinson 12-45. PASSING:Wesson, Shannon 1-2-1, 10, Gunter 0-2-0, 0. RECEIVING: Wesson,Hoaglin 1-10.