THRILLER: Fondren, Lane lead Cathedral to big win over Central Hinds

NATCHEZ — Tristan Fondren threw for over 200 yards and four touchdown passes while Fred Lane had over 100 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Cathedral High School Green Wave held on for a wild 55-37 win over the Central Hinds Academy Cougars last Friday night.

Fondren threw touchdown passes of 33 yards to Terrance Lee and 15 yards to Grayson Gay and made both extra point to give Cathedral a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Both of those touchdown drives came after fumble recoveries by the Green Wave defense.

Lane then capped off a 91-yard touchdown drive that started late in the first quarter with a 14-yard run at the 10:33 mark of the second quarter for a 21-0 lead. After Cathedral’s defense recovered yet another Central Hinds fumble, Fondren connected with Gay on a 68-yard touchdown pass and Fondren’s extra point gave the Green Wave a 28-0 lead with 8:12 left until halftime.

The Cougars responded quickly as Casen Macke scored on a five-yard run to make it a 28-7 game at the break.

Cathedral scored twice in the third quarter as Lane scored on a four-yard run at the 8:34 mark and Fondren threw a 52-yard TD pass to Lee with 2:50 left for what should have been a commanding 41-7 advantage.

Then all of a sudden Central Hinds showed signs of life made not only head coach Josh Loy a little nervous, but Green Wave fans at D’Evereaux Stadium as well.

Macke scored on a 22-yard run just five seconds into the final quarter and Jay Shuff’s two-point conversion pass to Layne Davis made it a 41-15 game. Then after recovering the ensuing kickoff, Central Hinds (0-1) struck again as Shuff threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Fletcher to make it a 41-23 game after Shuff ran in on the two-point conversion.

The Green Wave appeared to had regained control of the game when Lane scored on a 40-yard run to give them a 49-23 lead after Fondren’s two-point conversion pass to Braxton Brice with 7:12 remaining.

But the Cougars would not go away quietly. Shuff threw a 66-yard TD pass to Cooper Loftin and the two-point conversion run made it a 49-31 game at the 6:59 mark. Then Macke scored on a one-yard run, but the pass for two failed to make it a 49-37 game.

Then with 1:35 to go, Shuff, on the verge of being sacked, threw the ball in the air and Owen Jordan picked it off and ran it back 22 yards for a touchdown to give the Green Wave a 55-37 lead. Their defense made one last stand at the end of the game to keep the Cougars out of the end zone.

Defensively, Jordan and Brice each had a fumble recovery while Tripp Wimberly had one forced fumble and Paxton Johns had one sack.

Cathedral (1-0) travels to Vicksburg to take on longtime archrival St. Aloysius High School next Friday with kickoff at 7 p.m.

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