NATCHEZ &045; Mize has changed so little from last year’s Region 4-1A championship club, and that’s what has Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. so concerned.

His Green Wave, on the other hand, resemble very little from 2003.

The Bulldogs lost just three players from last year’s squad and are ranked No. 1 in the latest Class A poll. For a team that has struggled most of the season like Cathedral, it will take a solid effort to beat the Bulldogs when they visit D’Evereux Stadium Friday night.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. as MHSAA schools enter Week 5.

&uot;They don’t have a weakness,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;They’ve got two good running backs, and their quarterback is an outstanding athlete. They’re always strong defensively. Every year they’re going to have a good defense because of their quickness. It’s probably the best Mize team we’ve seen since we’ve been playing them the last four or five years.&uot;

But give Cathedral credit for giving the Bulldogs a game each of the last two seasons. Last year the Green Wave went to Mize and fought hard before dropping a 28-14 decision, and in 2002 the Wave pulled the 11-8 upset of the Bulldogs at home.

The Green Wave did not have the size to match up with Mize in the trenches but fare better this time. But the Bulldogs will go with a two-back rotation with little Jasper Ducksworth teaming with a transfer from French Camp in a set that can break a big one at any time.

Ducksworth ran for 221 yards on the Green Wave last year.

&uot;We’re bigger, but Mize is still bigger than us,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We’ll have to do an outstanding job of tackling. Like I tried to tell the kids, if Ducksworth gets beyond 5 yards downfield, he’s probably going to go all the way. Once he gets it in the open, we don’t have anyone that can run him down. We’ve got to bottle him up before he gets out in the open.&uot;

The other key for Cathedral will be to keep improving on the offensive end. The Green Wave is fresh off its first win of the season last week, a 40-20 decision over West Lincoln, and found a groove of sorts on offense for perhaps the first time all season.

The Wave bounced back and forth from the wishbone set to the pass-oriented spread set and had over 400 yards total offense.

This time, however, the Bulldogs are much tougher on defense and have proved it in their wins so far this season &045; 47-19 over Raleigh, 32-10 over Taylorsville, 42-13 over Salem and 42-6 over Cathedral.

&uot;We’ll have to play extremely well and hope we have some turnovers to hold them down,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll go out and do the best we can. We’ll probably run both of our offenses this week. It’s going to be tough either way, but we can’t let them dictate what we do offensively.&uot;

Natchez at Picayune

NATCHEZ &045; It’s another tough opponent for the Bulldogs, but every game after Port Gibson is like that in the world of 5A football.

Now the Bulldogs have a chance to improve on an area they’ve struggled with so far this season &045; stopping the run. The Maroon Tide do a good job of moving the ball on the ground, and the Bulldogs have a ways to go to become solid against it.

&uot;We have a good nucleus of kids who are hanging in there and going through the tough times,&uot; NHS head coach Lance Reed said. &uot;They see light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a lot of fundamentals, and a lot of young kids are out there playing. We have to focus on the basics for the most part. We’re getting better understanding, but we have to play hard every play and tackle better.&uot;

The Maroon Tide dropped a battle to Gulfport two weeks ago but didn’t play last week against Biloxi due to Hurricane Ivan. The Tide opened with wins over Moss Point and Harrison Central before dropping the 27-17 decision to Gulfport.

The Bulldogs will have junior center Henry Hedgepeth back Friday night, and he will also line up at defensive tackle.

&uot;They run the ball, and that’s one thing we’re working on &045; stopping the run,&uot; Reed said. &uot;And they run the ball well. It’ll be a test to see if we’ve gotten better, and we’ll see how we do. We’re working at it every week, and we’ll see Friday if our hard work is paying off.&uot;

Wilkinson at Jefferson

It wasn’t just Ernest Havard that the Tigers missed last week. Sure, Havard was a key absence, but the Tigers’ offense stumbled without him and quarterback Trevor Malone and Courtney Rushing in that loss to Amite County to open Region 7-3A play.

Malone is back for Friday’s game against Wilkinson County, and the offense just needs to play hard for four quarters &045; no matter who is or isn’t playing.

&uot;We were without some key fellows, but that isn’t any reason why we lost,&uot; JC head coach Jeffrey Harness said. &uot;We lost because we didn’t execute for four quarters. We played two quarters &045; the first and the fourth. The other two quarters, we rested.

&uot;Defensively, we just missed too many tackles. That’s the reason why we lost the ball game.&uot;

The offense will have Malone back for the passing game, and Jimmy Shorter stepped in and ran the ball effectively in place of Havard. Both may be critical areas against a Wilkinson County team that has not given up many points all season and can move the ball well on offense.

Franklin County at North Pike

MEADVILLE &045; The favorite in 7-3A gets its first taste of region play Friday night.

The tougher opponents lie ahead for the Bulldogs, but no one is overlooking the Jaguars. North Pike gave a good Wilkinson County team a battle.