The playoffs have begun for just about everybody in the Miss-Lou except for some.

Yet with the implications on games this week, the playoffs have merely arrived early.

Cathedral needs a win this week over rival St. Aloysius to get into the playoffs, and Vidalia and Ferriday will square up in their annual showdown with the Trojans possibly needing a win to get into the playoffs.

Other teams are set in the postseason &045; Adams Christian at Centreville, Columbia at Franklin County, Jefferson County at Greene County and Tensas Academy at Claiborne. But the race to get there is exciting enough.

Take the Green Wave, who will travel to Vicksburg to take on the Flashes in the hopes of getting into the playoffs for the second straight year. Friday’s win over Bogue Chitto put the Wave in position to get that spot since it would hold the tie-breaker with the Bobcats if both teams win on Friday.

&uot;We haven’t beaten St. Al in five years,&uot; Cathedral junior Matthew Hall said. &uot;We know it, and we hear it. We never stop hearing it. We can’t listen to the hype and have to go about it like it’s a normal week. I hope we’ll come out victorious. I think we’re going to do it.&uot;

If you’re a Green Wave fan (or St. Al fan, for that matter) you know everyone has been here before. Last year the Green Wave needed a win to lock up the No. 3 seed against a St. Al team that was out of the playoff picture, but the Flashes came to Natchez and pulled the upset.

The year prior the Green Wave needed a win at Vicksburg to get into the playoffs but got squeezed out. And you can’t forget about the 2001 meeting in Natchez when the Flashes scored a touchdown with five seconds left to add insult to injury in a 51-7 win.

That game drew a call from the Catholic nuns to the St. Al staff, another indication of what happens when these two teams match up.

&uot;St. Al is down a little bit this year,&uot; CHS head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. &uot;But it’s like I’m trying to impress on them &045; if they beat us, that would make their year. I’m sure they’re going to try to get us rattled. We’ve got to play with composure. We can’t have stupid penalties or have anybody kicked out. They’re got to realize the situation and need to go up there and play sound, fundamental football.&uot;

The Green Wave must avoid the pitfall of last season’s game where the Flashes did just what Beesley said they want to do this year &045; get the win to make their season. If Cathedral wins, it would further the team’s turnaround in recent weeks after Friday’s comeback 30-26 win over Bogue Chitto.

A win would put the Green Wave playing at Scott Central to open the playoffs for the second straight year.

&uot;If our defense keeps playing, they’ll keep us in the ball game,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;The defense has really improved the last couple of games.&uot;

Ferriday, meanwhile, comes into the week ranked 31st in Class 2A and could slip out of the playoff picture with a loss to the Vikings. Vidalia is ranked 23rd in the power ratings and would travel to North Caddo if the season ended Friday.

DEFENSIVE RISING &045; Cathedral knew all about Bogue Chitto fullback Cory Washington and had a good feeling he’d get a number of carries Friday night.

But stopping him was another subject. The defense had no answer to that at the start of the second half, and the Bobcats kept pouring it on.

Washington had 30 yards on eight carries by halftime, but he picked up 138 yards on his first 11 carries of the second half.

&uot;We couldn’t stop him up the middle, to be honest with you,&uot; said Hall, who was in at linebacker. &uot;But we just made some plays. We got a turnover in the first half. We came up with some big plays, and we stayed in the ball game with them.&uot;

The Green Wave then did what anyone else would do &045; just put more men in the box to stop him &045; and it worked. After a Cathedral touchdown cut the lead to 26-23, the Bobcats got down to the CHS 30 before getting into a fourth-and-12 situation.

The handoff went to Washington, who gained only four yards.

The Green Wave scored on its next possession to take the lead.

&uot;We had our chances early in the game,&uot; BC head coach Gareth Sartin said. &uot;We had the fumble, and they drove down and got a field goal. Fumbles have been our Achilles heel all year, and tonight was no different. We were moving the ball on them at will, but we didn’t finish up drives.

&uot;We lost our quarterback last week, and we had to run almost a new offense. Normally we like to spread it out and throw it a lot.

LONG ROAD BACK &045; After two tough years in which the Chiefs didn’t make the postseason, they weren’t ready for the journey to be over in just one week.

With a 13-7 win over

WCC A in the first round of the MPSA Class A South State playoffs, Tensas advanced to a second-round game against Claiborne.

&uot;It’s been a long try getting back into the playoffs,&uot; Tensas head coach Chris Jacobs said. &uot;It’s nice to get this win.&uot;

Claiborne Academy beat Tensas 39-7 in a regular-season game Oct. 22. Claiborne defeated Newton County Academy 35-6 Friday in the first round of the playoffs.

&uot;They put a butt-kicking on us last week,&uot; Jacobs said. &uot;That will be a major obstacle, but this was too.&uot;

But on Friday, nothing mattered but the win over WCCA. The Chiefs celebrated after the game as though they had already won the state championship.

KEY PLAYS &045; You can’t overlook two key contributions on the offensive end Friday night for the Green Wave.

The pass plays finally paid dividends big time with Patrick McDonough hitting Andrew Ellard and Hall on big gains, but other times the offense lined up in a spread formation and snapped it directly to running back Daniel Hollowell for big yardage.

The play kept working in the second half. Hollowell had 88 yards on 17 carries, including two runs for 21 yards just before McDonough hit Ellard for a score to cut it to three.

&uot;We’ve run it some this year,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;That’s part of that new offense. If they look for the pass, we like to hit them with the quick dive. Daniel does a good job of running it. He’s low to the ground and runs hard. That’s what opened up the pass later on &045; they started looking for that run.&uot;

Yet you can’t forget a huge block Hall had on Ellard’s touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Ellard took it around the right side, and Hall made a crunching block on a defender to help get Ellard into the end zone.

&uot;Coach always says if a guy is going to score and you’re not doing anything, make a block,&uot; Hall said.

(Christian Schmidt contributed to this report)