NATCHEZ — As 2007 ends and 2008 is brought in, it is a time to reflect on past accomplishments and look ahead to future goals and milestones.

For football coaches Bill Hurst at Centreville and Grady McCluskey at Franklin County, 2007 was quite a success story.

Both teams reached the state championship game in their classification and Centreville took home their seventh state title and first since 1999.

“I look back on the year and think about the hard work that was put out by the players over the summer leading up to the season,” Hurst said. “They had an excitement and closeness about them. I knew it was going to be a special team.”

The year was very special for Hurst, as not only did his team win the state championship, he welcomed his first grandson, John Austin, into the world the same day as his Tigers beat Oak Forest by a 35-34 score.

“That was an exciting day for me,” Hurst said. “It sticks out in my mind. God has truly blessed me.”

McCluskey also has a reason to look back on 2007 and smile as his team advanced to their second straight state title game before falling to Louisville by a 21-7 score.

The Bulldogs had to overcome two consecutive losses in the middle of the season to even reach the playoffs.

“We struggled through some ups and downs, but we held it together and stuck it out. A lot of people didn’t think we would get back to the playoffs.”

With the successful season, and most of his players returning, McCluskey is looking forward to a successful 2008 as well.

“You always want to get back in there and get started again,” McCluskey said. “We’re looking forward to making another run at (the state championship).”

While football coaches can look back on the accomplishments of the previous year, the area’s basketball coaches are looking forward to see what they can accomplish in 2008 as district play heats up after the holiday break.

The Cathedral boys team is off to a great start with a 13-3 record, but coach Peter Arnold is looking toward bigger things.

“Our ultimate goal is to advance to the state tournament,” Arnold said. “We’re off to a fantastic start and are doing good things but the key is winning the district.”

Arnold said that his team has a chance at being very special, but doesn’t want them to get too carried away.

“We’ve got a chance to have the best record we’ve ever had at Cathedral,” Arnold said. “That’s not our goal, but it is something we would cherish. Our motto all year is we’re only as good as our next game. We don’t want to get too high or too low. Each game is our most important.”

Another coach who is looking forward to the remainder of the season is Ferriday girls coach Lisa Abron.

Her Lady Trojans have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround from last year and post a strong 19-4 record as the new year starts.

“Before the season we set a goal to have a better record than last year and we’ve managed to do that,” Abron said.

With district play getting ready to crank up next week, Abron said she is looking forward to Ferriday reaching another one of their goals.

“We want to win the district and that starts next week,” Abron said. “We’re looking forward to that. That’s a very reachable goal for us.”