NATCHEZ — As if anyone needed proof that Cathedral High School’s strong season in football was a total team effort, 16 of the Green Wave players received All-Region honors recently.

Headlining the list was quarterback Caleb Upton, who was named region MVP.

Green Wave players that were selected first-team All-Region include Daniel Huffines, Jadarius Ealey, Tyler Flemming, Carl Hammitte, Mathew Rymer, Josh Callaway, Kyle Bradley, Khalil Brice, Dakota Vaughan and Tyrin McDuffine.

Peyton Jenkins, Rodney Hall, Ty Brown, MacArthur Doss and Ishmael Blackmon were selected second-team All-Region.

Upton said he was glad to receive the honor, but it wasn’t something that he though about during the season.

“I’m honored I got it, but I wasn’t worried about it,” Upton said. “Even after the games are done, I don’t worry about stats or anything, just if we won or lost, and how I played personally.”

Brice said he was glad to see so many of his teammates given All-Region honors, especially considering how close they were last season.

“It was just a great experience to play with all of them, and I’m glad (so many) of us made (All-Region),” Brice said. “Almost everyone who started made it.”

Cathedral head coach Ron Rushing said the 16 players that made the team were the most out of MHSAA Region 4-1A.

“It’s good for the program and for the kids,” Rushing said. “We really got after it this year, so I guess this is the payoff for doing all of that hard work.”

Brice said the Green Wave’s chemistry went a long way to winning the Region 4-1A title.

“Everyone was cool with each other, and we had enough time out there over the summer to learn about each other,” Brice said. “Once we did, we knew each other’s ups and downs.”

Rushing also said he was impressed with the unselfish play of his team this season.

“This is one of the most unselfish teams we’ve had,” Rushing said. “We were able to spread the ball around to so many people and get them involved. That adds to the excitement.”

The numbers the Green Wave put up were impressive enough. According to MaxPreps.com, Cathedral was second in the state in total yards and No. 23 in the nation in that category. The Green Wave were No. 1in the state in yards per game.

Upton was No. 5 in the nation in passing yards, and 11 different Cathedral players scored at least 10 touchdowns, five of which scored more than 10.

The Green Wave took 808 snaps on offense, and only had two bad snaps, Rushing said.

Upton said the number of All-Region selections proves just how good the Green Wave players worked together.

“It says that it’s not just one guy doing it all,” Upton said. “If I made the pass, someone had to make the catch, and someone had to block. If we got the ball, it’s because our guys were playing good defense. It was a total team effort.”