The Cathedral High School football team defeated preceding Green Wave coach Ron Rushing in his first year at Brookhaven Academy last season, but that’s all in the past.

After taking down the Cougars last season, 34-20, Cathedral is scheduled to travel to Brookhaven Academy Friday to open its 2017 season with a familiar opponent.

Rushing, who served as Cathedral’s head coach for six seasons before current coach Chuck Darbonne took over in May 2016, was not able to win a game last season, going 0-10.

Despite low participation and a winless record, Darbonne said he doesn’t expect the Green Wave’s first game to be easy.

“The mystery now is who Coach Rushing convinced to come out and play,” Darbonne said. “I’ve heard he had some people who excel in other sports come out to join the team. It’s not just 14 kids out there anymore.”

This year’s Cathedral seniors won a MHSAA Class 1A state title under Rushing in 2014, and Darbonne said he expects those upperclassmen to lead Cathedral out of the gate.

“I think a few of them want to show him how good they are now,” he said. “Its good to see someone who you know across the field because you know the kids will be coached up hard, but I’m competitive. I want to beat everybody, and I think our kids are as focused and ready for what they have to do.”

After splitting wins in a pair of jamboree games last Friday, Darbonne said he is ready to continue the game play.

“It gave kids the ability to see film of what they did good and fix the bad during this week,” he said. “Even with the mistakes we made, we were not passive. It gave them some confidence.”

After a summer full of practice, Darbonne said, he wants to show Cathedral supporters the true potential of his team.

“We have all been waiting for a long time,” he said. “All the hard work you do just leads up to Friday nights.”