The hardest feat to accomplish in sports is defending a championship.

It’s difficult on any level so imagine how strenuous it must be when you’re dealing with high school players. If you listen closely you can hear a collective amen from all of the local high school football coaches.

In dealing with high school athletes, I continuously find myself going back to what Dee Faircloth told me before the season — “they can look like hell or they can play like hell.”

Truer words were never spoken, as high school kids are about as unpredictable as the Great Mississippi River Balloon Races — though it’s getting easier to predict when no races are involved.

Take the Cathedral Green Wave for instance.

Cathedral climbed the mountain last year and won the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A State Championship. This season? Well, the Wave have looked impressive at times but have struggled to find their groove. During the season, Cathedral’s defense (a unit that returned nine starters from a season ago) has looked impenetrable, while other times, Cathedral’s defense has allowed one big play after another with breakdowns in its coverage.

The same can be said about the offense, as it obviously has the athletes combined with a capable quarterback in Connor Mire. But everyone isn’t always on the same page. It’s like something has been missing, a certain hunger.

Well, in the opening round of the MAIS AAA playoffs against Bowling Green, the Wave came to eat with a full appetite. Cathedral’s defense engulfed Buccaneer ball carriers, smothering Bowling Green and allowing only 11 total yards before reserves took the field in the fourth quarter. Cathedral defensive end Will Wallace, who recorded three tackles for loss in the victory, was all business after the win, simply saying it was a statement and that it was time to put up or shut up.

“New playoffs, new season,” Wallace said. “Whatever happened before is in the past.”

So where has that been all season long? That type of drive and focus has been lacking, well, at least up until the last regular game of the season against Columbia Academy, where the Green Wave defense led the way in a 38-6 rout.

Throughout the season, injuries took place (four knee surgeries have been required), and teams like Adams County Christian School and Jackson Prep jumped all over the Wave, but outside of that, mental lapses opened the door for unimpressive performances. That seems to be in the rearview mirror, at least is what the players tell me.

Could it be the Green Wave slept walk through a majority of the season, beating inferior opponents in a less than spectacular fashion? With the playoffs started, and every game potentially being their last, Cathedral wide receiver Jardarius Anderson said the team needed something to sink their teeth into.

“We’re starting to click right now,” Anderson said. “Like Coach Ron (Rushing) says, I don’t think we were bored with the regular season, but it matters now. It’s all or nothing, so you have to play as hard as you can.”

I’ll say this, if the defense performs like it did Friday night — where Robert Hargrave, James Allen Coley, JJ Jenkins, Anderson and Wallace all had phenomenal nights — Cathedral will upset No. 2 Indianola Friday night.

Following the victory against Bowling Green, some Cathedral players walked by me and said, “Just two more before the rematch.”

Losing to ACCS earlier this season has lit a fire in this group, and with certain members of the Cathedral fanbase panicking with two losses (both losses came against undefeated teams that are regarded as two of the best teams in the state), the desire for an ACCS vs. Cathedral rematch in the state championship game is more than present.

Defense will set the stage for the Wave to roll into the title game, and you would think this group is inspired enough to play disciplined football. But then again, these are high school players we’re talking about. However this thing unfolds, your guess is as good as mine.