NATCHEZ — The Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state football playoffs might not start until Nov. 14, but don’t tell Natchez High coach Lance Reed that.

The playoffs have already begun for the Bulldogs

Natchez is now 1-2 in Region 3-5A after Friday’s 41-28 win over Brandon, and needs to win its remaining four region games to assure itself of a playoff berth for the first time since 1997.

“It was an extremely huge win for us (over Brandon),” Reed said. “We knew this would be a tough stretch and the win really brought some light to the rest of our season.”

Reed said the key to winning the remaining games and making the playoffs is to take the season week by week.

“We take it just one game at a time,” Reed said. “Right now we’re really focusing on Jim Hill. We know what’s at stake. We have no room to let down each week. It’s important that we keep it up, keep working and keep improving.

While Natchez High saw its playoff chances increase with Friday’s win, Cathedral sees its hopes continue to slip down the drain.

The Green Wave fell 48-33 against Stringer on Friday, their fourth consecutive loss after opening the season 3-0.

Stringer was the fourth opponent in a five-game stretch that Cathedral coach Craig Beesley knew would be tough for his team.

“We knew going into the year, the stretch of five games we’re in would be a tough span for us,” Beesley said. “These teams have a combined record of 29-6. I thought if we could pull out a few wins here and there, good shot at playoffs. We’ve been in every game except one. We’re playing as hard as we can play, and we’ve got to keep plugging away.”

The game that hurt Cathedral more than any other was the first game of this five-game stretch, a 31-28 loss to rival St. Aloysius which came due to a St. Al touchdown pass on fourth down with under 20 seconds remaining in the game.

“Not only losing that game hurt us, but it had an affect on us the following Friday (a 44-14 loss to Bogue Chitto),” Beesley said. “I wish we could play that game over again because we mentally didn’t show up that night. That’s the only game I’m frustrated with. The other six games played well, we just didn’t get breaks in the fourth quarter.”

It only gets harder this Friday, as the Wave face Puckett, a team that lost just one game last season.

While Cathedral continues to struggle, Vidalia picked up a huge win on Friday, defeating district favorite Bunkie 26-12.

The Vikings are now 1-0 in district play and are 2-3 overall.

Every game from here on out is a district contest, with Marksville looming this Friday.

Other games involving area schools Friday are Ferriday at Sterlington, Franklin County at South Pike, Jefferson County at Lawrence County, North Pike at Wilkinson County and Block at LaSalle.