NATCHEZ — If the Cathedral School football team wants to take it easy from here on out, starting this week would be a bad idea.

The Green Wave (8-1, 5-0) can clinch the Region 4-1A championship with a win at Dexter High School Friday. But that win isn’t going to come easy, Cathedral head coach Ron Rushing said.

“Dexter is probably the most athletic team that we’ll play this year,” Rushing said. “They have great skill people and like to run a lot of different sets on offense with screens, sweeps and throws downfield.

“On defense, they like to attack you. They usually put seven or eight on the line and bring them. They run to the ball really well, and they’re good at gang tackling.

“They’re also really fast, so I don’t think we’ll be able to run the ball on the corners. We’re going to have to go straight at them and grind it out.”

Even though Cathedral only needs to win one of its next two games to clinch the regional championship, Rushing said that last win is probably the toughest one to get.

“It seems like every week you say, ‘This is an important game,’ and then you win and the next week there’s a more important game,” Rushing said. “I do think the kids have handled the pressure well.”

In order to keep handling that pressure well, Rushing said his players would have to maintain focus amid any distractions.

“That’s hard to do. We started a few weeks ago trying to instill in their minds that these games are like a playoff atmosphere,” he said.

“The season’s getting along and there are more distractions popping up. Mentally, it’s this time of the year when you really have to focus.”

As far as the actual gameplan against Dexter, Rushing said his team would have to keep doing what it’s been doing all season.

“We have to attack whatever the defense dictates. We have to see how they’re trying to defend us and attack it,” he said.

“I think we’re an attacking offense, and whatever advantage we think we have, we have to try and go after it.”

On defense, sticking to their assignments will be key for the Green Wave players.

“We’re going to have to know how we line up against different sets and know what to do. They have so much speed, if we make one mistake, it’s a touchdown,” Rushing said.