NATCHEZ — Cathedral High School will begin its season against the same opponent it finished against in 2014.

Welcoming the Green Wave into the 2015 football season will be St. Aloysius, as Cathedral and the Golden Flashes meet again after playing for an Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A State Championship a season ago.

“This is always a big week,” Rushing said. “The kids are excited. They have a great program over there.”

Since Cathedral defeated St. Aloysius 49-14 last December, both schools have moved to the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, and both figure to be favorites in the MAIS AAA.

Of course, Cathedral returns most of its starters on defense along with its leading rusher and receiver last season in Dee Fleming and Jardarius Anderson, respectively. But St. Aloysius returns firepower from a team that made it to the state championship, as well. Headlining that group is DeMichael Harris, who rushed for 2,062 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2014.

“If you give him a crease, he’s gone,” Rushing said. “He’s the fastest kid in Mississippi, public and private. They have some good size to block for him too. They come off the ball well.”

Playing quarterback for St. Aloysius in place of the graduated Connor Smith will be Will Pierce. After observing him on film, Rushing believes the 6’4” quarterback will be a tough challenge for his defense to stop.

“I was expecting him to not look as sharp since he hasn’t had a lot of playing time,” Rushing said. “But he played really well in the jamboree.”

Leading the charge for Rushing’s offense will be a pair of quarterbacks, as Connor Mire and Andrew Beesley extend their quarterback battle into the season.

“We’ll use both,” Rushing said. “Connor will start, and we’ll have packages. We want to give the ball to Dee and establish the run, and use play-action off of him.”

Cathedral and St. Aloysius continue their storied rivalry at 7 p.m. Friday in Devereaux Stadium.