Cathedral High head football coach Ken Beesley Sr. is looking for his Green Wave team to turn its season around as it faces long-time rival St. Aloysius Friday night in Vicksburg.

&uot;We have a big rivalry with St. Al,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;It goes way back to the ’50s and ’60s.&uot;

Beesley said he is challenging his team, especially his seniors, to get on the winning track after losing the first three games of the season.

&uot;We’ve had an upbeat practice this week,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;When you’re 0-3 everyone needs to step up.&uot;

Beesley said he feels his team will play better this week than it did last week in a 30-8 loss to the Dexter Bulldawgs.

&uot;Last week we were beaten by a bigger, stronger, faster team,&uot; coach Beesley said. &uot;On offense we struggled.&uot;

Despite the blowout loss last week, Beesley said he was impressed with the play of defensive end Mark Steckler and linebacker Jim Sandel.

&uot;Mark and Jim played hard and played well,&uot; Beesley said.

Offensively, Beesley is counting on another solid performance from quarterback Bart Lane, who completed nine of 14 passes for 45 yards and one touchdown last week.

&uot;Bart’s improving every week,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;Our offensive line needs to do a better job of blocking for him. Also, our receivers have to work better running the routes.&uot;

Beesley is also looking for the running game to do better than it did last week. Ja’Mel Jackson had only 46 yards rushing on 15 carries last week.

Perhaps the good news for Cathedral is that they are not playing the same St. Aloysius team that routed the Green Wave 47-12 last year.

&uot;St. Al lost a lot of seniors last year,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;They are like us — in a rebuilding season.&uot;

St. Aloysius will run a variation of the I-formation on offense and a 4-3 defense.

&uot;Their tailback is a strong runner,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;He has good speed, but not blazing speed. The key to the game will be tackling well.

&uot;Defensively, they don’t have any one particular player who stands out. They play well as a team,&uot; he added.