NATCHEZ — With the beginning of the high school football season still two weeks away for Mississippi public schools, Cathedral coach Craig Beesley has spent much of the Green Wave’s practices getting all the players mentally prepared.

Cathedral has a large freshman class who are playing varsity football for the first time, and Beesley said it can take a little while to get them caught up.

“We’re still trying to get everyone on the same page,” Beesley said. “We’ve got a lot of new players coming out. There’s a big group of ninth graders and we’re trying to work them up to speed with what we’re trying to accomplish in high school football.”

While the freshman are still learning the ropes right now, Beesley said they are a talented group that is challenging for playing time right away.

“We’ve got a good group there and we hope that they will be able to play some valuable minutes this year,” Beesley said. “Some of them are fighting for starting positions, but a lot of them will be playing valuable minutes as substitutes as well.”

While some might think that the Green Wave upperclassmen might be taken aback by freshmen coming in and taking their minutes, Beesley said they have been great leaders and are showing the young players the way to go.

“I’ve seen a lot of leadership with our upperclassmen,” Beesley said. “With such a larage group of young athletes, the seniors have stepped up and helped teach them while the coaches are working with others. They’ve shown them the way.”

Even though the Green Wave have only been practicing a little over a week, some players have already stepped up and are making a difference, Beesley said.

“Stowers Mohon has looked real good defensively at middle linebacker,” Beesley said. “He did well for us last year and we’re expecting big things out of him again. Offensively, (quarterback) Preston Edwards and (receiver) Daniel Jenkins are back, and they were a good combo for us last year.”

With only seven practices completed so far, and a few of those being interrupted by rain, Beesley said the Green Wave are still learning the basics.

“We’re still trying to get continuity on offense,” Beesley said. “To run the spread, you have to have the timing down. Defensively, we’re still trying to learn the system. We’ve only been out here for seven days, so we’re still trying to learn.”