[11/8/03]NATCHEZ With the way St. Aloysius played in the last half of the season, those teams in Class 1A that did make the playoffs probably are glad the Flashes did not.

St. Al junior running back Rob Jones broke Cathedral’s back with two long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter and finished with 183 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 22 carries as the Flashes stunned the Green Wave 34-25 Friday night at D’Evereaux Stadium.

On a night when Cathedral’s seniors were recognized before the start of the game and the Green Wave teams of 1973, 1983 and 1993 were honored at halftime, it was Jones who stole the show.

“They kept blitzing and we ran past them,” Jones said. “One of them couldn’t tackle me. They tried to gang-tackle me.”

St. Aloysius (6-5, 5-4) took a 20-17 lead going into the fourth quarter after Jones scored on a 1-yard run with 3 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

With good blocking from his offensive line, Jones scored on a 40-yard run to give the Flashes a 27-17 lead with 10:56 to go in the game.

“Rob has been our workhorse all year,” St. Aloysius head coach Jim Taylor said. “He already had over 1,000 yards this year. They (offensive line) did an exceptional job most of the time.”

Cathedral (7-3, 6-3) got back in the game thanks to a safety with 6:05 to play when the ball sailed over the head of St. Al punter Drew Mazzanti and into the end zone. Mazzanti kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone to prevent the Green Wave from scoring a touchdown.

Cathedral then cut the lead to 27-25 with 3:19 to go on a 1-yard run by Jonathan Jackson, four plays after Mazzanti was sacked by John Paul Kenda. He forced the ball loose and Eric Lee recovered at the St. Al 11-yard line.

But on the first play from scrimmage on St. Al’s next possession, Jones got a key block from Austin Golding and outran the Green Wave defense for an 80-yard touchdown run to end the rally.

“I’m very disappointed,” Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. “They wanted it more than we did. Every time we had a chance to get back in the game, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot and gave them a big play.

“I think their line dominated our line in the second half. This made their season. I didn’t think we were sharp.”

Jackson gave Cathedral a 7-0 lead on a 73-yard touchdown run to cap a three-play, 94-yard drive. After that long run, St. Al held him to 24 yards on his final eight carries of the game.

“Our job was to defend the screens and not give up the big plays,” Taylor said. “… It was an overall team effort. It’s always a heck of a game when these two teams face each other. We tried to play ball control and we did for a while until we had a couple of turnovers.”