NATCHEZ — When Cathedral football coach Ron Rushing looks back on the Green Wave’s 2010 season, he sees a team that fulfilled all of its goals thanks to hard work and preparation.

And when he looks to the future, he sees a team that can continue to reach and exceed those same goals every year.

The Green Wave closed out their best season in over a decade with a 27-16 loss to Dexter in the MHSAA Class 1A quarterfinals on Friday night.

Cathedral finished the year with a 10-3 record, and finished first place in the region for the first time since 1997.

They also hosted and won a playoff game for the first time since that same season.

Rushing, who was in his first year as Cathedral’s head coach, said following the coaching duo of Ken and Craig Beesley helped him tremendously.

“Starting the season off coming behind Craig and his dad, everything was there,” Rushing said. “The discipline was there, and the kids worked hard.”

And that hard work began in the preseason, Rushing said.

“Two-a-days helped extremely well this year,” he said. “We got our work ethic down, and that had a lot to do with the season.”

Rushing said he was pleased the players were able to see the rewards of their hard work with a 10-win season and region championship.

“The kids flat-out earned it,” Rushing said. “They worked their tails off this year and did everything asked of them. I’m extremely proud of them.”

While Cathedral went 13 years between region championships and playoff victories before this year, with the talent the Green Wave has returning as well as the talent in its middle school program, Rushing expects the program to continue on a high level.

“We’ve got eight starters returning on offense and seven returning on defense, and a lot of young kids got playing time this year who will step up next year,” Rushing said. “Hopefully we’ll get this thing rolling and turn out some wins every year.”

And Rushing thinks the 2010 season could be just the start for the Green Wave program.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Rushing said. “We’ve got the numbers and got the talent, it’s just a matter of working in the offseason and getting better every year.

“We went 12-1 the last two years in middle school, and we’ve started up a ninth and 10th grade program. The school has also built a brand new weight room, which is one of the nicest in the state. It’s all there, we’ve just got to put the pieces together.”