Richmond Fields of WC runs breaks free from the grasp Cathedral’s Patrick Vogt. He finished with 166 yards and three touchdowns. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

Warren Central junior varsity running back Richmond Fields provided the offense and Roderick Montgomery made the defensive stand when it counted Thursday night.

Fields rushed for a game-high 166 yards and scored three touchdowns including the game-winner in a 28-21 overtime win over Natchez Cathedral’s varsity in front of an estimated 600 people.

But it was Montgomery who sacked Cathedral quarterback Bart Lane on back-to-back plays in overtime to seal the victory.

“We had the mindset that no one’s gonna beat the Vikings,” Fields said. “(Cathedral’s) defense was in good shape and they played pretty hard.

Fields scored on the second play of the game, a 67-yard run, then scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards. The 4-yarder came on the second play in overtime.

In overtime, each team gets the ball on the opponent’s 10-yard line and have four plays to score. The Green Wave won the overtime toss and elected defense first. Fields ran the first play for 6 yards, then the scoring run, a dive play that WC had had plenty of success with.

“We had scored on that same play before, so we knew that was what we were going to do,” WC coach Richard Smithhart.

Cathedral got to the 6-yard line, but then Montgomery ended the game with his sacks and set off a wild celebration.

“Overall, I was pleased with the way we played,” said Cathedral coach Ken Beesley, who scheduled the game because his original game against Wisner, La., was canceled. “We came back when we could have easily gotten down. We made a game out of it.”

Kay Smith, who rushed for 87 yards, scored the first touchdown midway through the first quarter. Ja’Mel Jackson led all rushers with 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but also fumbled four times. He scored the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Jackson went out of the game midway through the fourth quarter with a bruised kidney and did not return.

“He’s our horse,” Beesley said. “When he went down, it really hurt us.”

Down 8-0, Fields scored his first touchdown to pull to within one, 8-7. Two minutes later, quarterback Jeremy Ferguson connected with Larry King on a 45-yarder to give WC a 14-8 lead. Ferguson was 10-of-18 for 128 yards.

“After they scored, we jumped right back up and went down and scored,” Ferguson said. “That got our spirits up.”

Jackson added a 23-yard scoring burst late in the first quarter for a 15-14 Cathedral lead, which stood until the fourth quarter.

After Jackson’s second touchdown, which gave Cathedral a 21-14 lead midway through the third quarter, Eric Hamberlin streaked around right end to block Byron Zerby’s extra point attempt and keep the game within a touchdown, 21-14.

One minute into the fourth, Fields burst through for a 1-yard TD and Greg Carroll’s kick made it 21-21. Carroll was true on all four PATs.

Hamberlin also had a late fourth-quarter interception as Cathedral made one last attempt to score. Deonte Selvy, Koury Thomas and Jason Taylor all recovered fumbles for WC.

Ferguson said after beating Cathedral, the Vikings have a chance to do very well against other junior varsity teams.

“We might go undefeated if we play like we did tonight,” Ferguson said. “That’s a high school team we just beat with kids like 18 years old and we are all 15 and 16.”