By PATRICK MURPHY

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — After last Friday’s last-minute 34-33 loss to the Brookhaven Academy Cougars, the Cathedral Green Wave will travel to play the Riverfield Academy Raiders on Friday.

The match up will be Cathedral’s last MAIS District 4 game of the season.

To prepare for Friday’s game against the Raiders, Cathedral Head Coach Chuck Darbonne said he is working with his players to correct the mistakes made in the game against Brookhaven.

“A lot of the mistakes were either alignment or technique flaws,” Darbonne said. “The kids played really well, and we had our chances to win.”

The No. 1 Raiders come into this game with a perfect 5-0 overall record and 3-0 against District 4 opponents.

Darbonne said Riverfield runs the ball 99% of the time. In comparison, Brookhaven Academy runs the ball 45 to 50% of the time, Darbonne said.

To defeat the Raiders, Darbonne said he has two goals he wants his players to accomplish in Friday’s game.

“The first thing is winning the turnover battle,” Darbonne said. “That was one of the statistics we didn’t win on Friday night against Brookhaven. The other goal is being the most physical team on the field. This is going to be a challenge physically.”

If Cathedral wins on Friday against Riverfield Academy, then they will be 3-1 in the district.

If Cathedral beats Riverfield Academy on Friday they will need Riverfield Academy Raiders to defeat Brookhaven Academy on Oct. 11 in order for Cathedral to win the district.

If Cathedral loses to Riverfield Academy, then the Green Wave would no chance to win the district. Therefore, Darbonne said Friday’s game against Riverfield is the Green Wave’s most important game of the season.

“This is our chance to possibly win the District and put our season in the right direction with the last four games being non-district games,” Darbonne said. “Beating a team that’s undefeated in 4A will be a major accomplishment for our team and will give our team confidence moving forward into the non-district games.”

The game starts at 7 p.m. Friday at Riverfield Academy.