Last week was an emotional one for Cathedral High School head football coach Chuck Darbonne.

Following his first career win as a head coach, Darbonne gave the game ball to his father. Darbonne had a modest audience of family and friends in attendance to watch his new program beat rival St. Aloysius 18-14,

“It was a great win,” Darbonne said. “My friends surprised me and showed up, and my dad was there, too, so that was great.”

Tonight, Darbonne has the opportunity to make a good first impression on the Natchez community with a win in the home opener against Madison St. Joseph.

“It’s going to be a great event,” Darbonne said. “The last two days we’ve been getting the field ready, and you can tell people are behind (the team), and there will be a lot of people there.”

Madison St. Joseph is coming of a resounding 30-7 win over Salem last week.

Cathedral’s offense looks to continue its hot start. Quarterback Connor Mire completed 14-of-20 passes for 110 yards, and Cathedral powered the ball at the goal line, putting the ball in the hands of John Ashton Hicks for two touchdowns.

Darbonne said St. Joe returns skilled upperclassmen that could challenge the Cathedral defense.

“(St. Joe is) very improved from last year,” Darbonne said. “They have a lot of guys returning and that have played for two years. You can tell that they play hard. They have some skilled guys and bigger lineman that have just gotten better over the years.”