NATCHEZ &045; Things don’t change much with football at Scott Central, and Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. knows it.

Besides the fact that the Rebels have a number of players returning from last year’s team, they still play like Scott Central teams from years ago &045; awfully strong. The Rebels opened the playoffs with a 56-24 win over Cathedral last year before losing in the state championship to Weir.

Now it’s the same thing all over again as the Green Wave travels to Forest Friday to open the playoffs. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

&uot;They’re a typical Scott Central team &045; they may not be as big as they were last year, but they’re still very, very strong,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;They have an outstanding weight program and are always one of the top teams in powerlifting every year in Class A. They’ve got several kids returning, and they’ve got probably their best defensive player back at middle linebacker.&uot;

The Rebels have excelled on both sides of the ball this season under head coach Mickey Bounds. And the scores indicate it &045; four shutouts and two games where the opponent scored one touchdown &045; while the offense put up at least 35 points in every game but one.

Their biggest threat is Mitch Bradford, who stars at middle linebacker but has become a two-way threat this season at fullback. He’ll present a problem for the Green Wave on both sides of the ball instead of the one he did last year.

&uot;He’s a force in the middle,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;It’s hard to run anything in the middle there, and he’s real strong (running the ball) and breaks a lot of tackles. He’s probably their top player. He likes to run a lot of fullback traps up the middle. If you don’t gang-tackle him or tackle him low, he’ll run straight through you.&uot;

Yet if there’s a bright side to all this, it’s the fact that the Green Wave had success moving the ball with the passing game last season in that loss. The Wave put up 268 yards passing and 458 yards total offense in that contest, only to give up 525 yards to the Rebels.

And just about every piece of that offense is gone &045; only Andrew Ellard returns at a skill spot &045; while the Rebels’ defense for the most part remains intact.

&uot;Last year we did give them some problems,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;In their district, most teams are big and physical. Most of them play power football and don’t throw it a whole lot. If we’re able to block long enough to give Patrick (McDonough) enough time to throw the ball, we might have some success throwing the ball. I know we kind of caught them by surprise last year, and they weren’t ready for it.&uot;

The Green Wave must still answer questions on defense against that run-oriented attack with Bradford. The only team to give Scott Central a solid game was Union, a team the Rebels still handled by two touchdowns, 27-12.

But the Green Wave comes into the game playing its best ball of the year, winners of four of the last five thanks to big improvements in the passing game and up front on defense.

&uot;It’s going to be a case of we can’t go up there and run the spread offense the whole game or run the run offense the whole game,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We’ll mix it up and try to run something they’re not used to, and hopefully they’ll make some mistakes. It’ll be difficult for us to drive the ball down the field and score. We’ll try to make some big plays. On defense we’ve got to do the opposite and try to stop them from making a big play.

&uot;We’ve got to play smart. We’ve got to gamble on defense &045; there’s no way around it.&uot;

Franklin County at Forest

MEADVILLE &045; The Bulldogs have looked at film after film on Forest in search of an area to exploit in the two teams’ Class 3A second-round matchup.

Franklin head coach Anthony Hart said he’s still looking.

The Bearcats are a solid bunch and will host the Bulldogs in what may be a clash of two solid teams Friday night. But the Bearcats have talent in all phases and will present a problem for Hart’s club.

&uot;Sometimes you play teams that have weaknesses, but they’re solid on offense, defense and special teams,&uot; Hart said. &uot;They’re good at what they do. Sometimes you play teams that change from week to week, but they’re the same. They have a good quarterback and receivers, and they’re strong on defense.&uot;

The Bearcats lean on Keith Brown at quarterback to run the offense, a system that features a steady dose of short passes to spread the field and allow the receivers to make plays. And they’ve done that &045; in a three-game stretch they scored 170 points &045; and opened the playoffs last season with a 34-10 win over Raleigh.

But the Bulldogs feel good about themselves as well. It’s a return trip to the playoffs after pounding Columbia last week in the opener, and all those returning players know what’s at stake in the playoffs.

&uot;We know it’s going to be tough, but we feel we’ve got a good team, too,&uot; Hart said. &uot;We’re not intimidated by the least. Last year was the first year of them being there. We’re focused, and I think we’re going to be fine.&uot;

Oak Forest at Centreville

CENTREVILLE &045; These teams have developed a nice rivalry over the years, but Friday night it’s for the South State championship.

The winner will punch a ticket to play in Clinton next week for a state title. It’s also a chance at redemption for the Yellow Jackets.