NATCHEZ — Usually when a Miss-Lou team faces Central Private, it’s Adams County Christian playing in a district game, or Trinity Episcopal facing a non-district opponent.

But this Friday, Central Private will instead host Cathedral in both teams’ season opener.

Green Wave head coach Ron Rushing said the first thing that sticks out about Central Private is how well its coaching staff prepares the players for each game.

“They’re a very well-coached football team. They’re going to be a good test for us early,” Rushing said.

“They have an aggressive defense that usually sends five or six players (at you) every time. On offense, they don’t have a whole lot of plays, but they try not to hurt themselves and wait until you make a mistake.

“They’re a ball-control offense that likes to run the ball and grind it out. They will throw some, but we’re going to have to stop the run and make them throw. They’re line’s not very big, but they’re well-rehearsed in what they need to do.”

Getting a chance to see his team play against Wilkinson County Christian in the Cathedral Jamboree last Friday helped the coaches recognize what kinks needed to be worked out, Rushing said.

“We got to see some things we needed to fix. I got to watch the angles that we took when we blocked, and it showed us that we needed to correct those angles,” Rushing said.

“I feel like we could be pretty good on offense. We have the athletes.”

Being an assistant coach last year for the Green Wave, Rushing said he’s well aware of the troubles the team had on offense toward the beginning of last season. Going into this year, Rushing said he hopes to avoid making the same mistakes he did a year ago.

“A lot of those problems were on me. I was the offensive coordinator, and it was my first year doing it. I told the players I’ll take three or four of those losses from early in the season,” Rushing said.

“I was trying to force a scheme on them, and this year what we’re doing (on offense) fits a lot better for us, personnel-wise.”

With a year under his belt, though, Rushing said he’s learned a few lessons along the way.

“I’m definitely better prepared this season. I’ve learned to better assess the talent I have and try to adjust what I like to do on offense to what I have.”

And senior linebacker Semmes White said he could tell a difference in practices this season compared to the beginning of last season.

“This year we’re coming out expecting to win more than we used to. We’ve been working way harder this summer,” White said.

“I think the momentum from last season carried over, with us going to the playoffs. It helped boost our confidence.”

Kickoff at Central Private is at 7 p.m. Friday.