NATCHEZ — Although they were only in t-shirts and shorts, the Vidalia High School Vikings and Cathedral Green Wave got in a ton of work Tuesday afternoon in a 7-on-7 contest.

Vidalia head coach Jeff Hancock and Cathedral head coach Ron Rushing both said they were pleased with how their team performed in the contest.

“We are getting there one step at a time. It is part of the process,” Hancock said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys. Sixty to 70 percent of our team is ninth and tenth graders. We are young, but seeing them compete in things like this is good.”

Hancock was able to get a good look at his two quarterbacks Tristan Weatherly, an incoming freshman, and Jordan Mays, who are both fairly new to the position.

“They are getting better,” Hancock said. “Jordan is a rookie, too. He played some quarterback, but was mainly a receiver and defensive back. But they are really both rookies at quarterback. They just have to calm down and the game has to slow down for them.”

Both turned in solid performances with Weatherly finishing the day 8-of-15 with three touchdowns and Mays finishing 11-of-23 with two touchdowns and an interception.

Another bright spot for the Vikings was CJ McNulty, who recorded two touchdown grabs in the game.

For defending MHSAA Class 1A state champions Cathedral, Tuesday’s outing may have been a slight wake up call after falling behind early.

“My worry is we won the state championship last year and we can’t be complacent,” Rushing said. “I tell them we have to work twice as hard as we have to get back to that point because everybody is coming after us. I think today kind of opened our eyes a little bit. We’ve got to work.”

The Green Wave began their search to fill the whole left by last year’s talented signal caller Wyatt Boothe, and three candidates emerged for the job.

Conner Mire, Andrew Beesley and Jackson Carpenter all saw time at quarterback in the contest.

“I like what I saw from them,” Rushing said. “They’ve got to get some experience. They throw the ball really well, I know that, but they just have to learn the reads and all that. All we are asking them to do is manage the game, don’t turn the ball over and we’ll take our shots when we get them. I do believe we are going to be able to throw the ball and run the ball effectively this year.”

All three had equal reps, with Mire finishing 5-of-9 with three touchdowns and an interception, Beesley going 6-of-11 with an interception and Carpenter finishing 7-of-14 with two touchdowns.

Another name that continued to emerge was Will Wallace, but not in his usual position of defensive end, but at tight end. Wallace had three touchdown grabs in the contest and Rushing said he’s got some ideas for him.

“Some schools are projecting him as a tight end like Mississippi State,” Rushing said. “Seeing him run around and catch the ball like he does with how athletic he is, I’ve got some ideas rolling around in my head.”

Both coaches were also able to get a look at their defenses.

“Defensively, coach (Dee Faircloth) is working on a zone and those guys are doing a better job of understanding that and where they need to be,” Hancock said.

For Rushing, it is building off what worked for the Green Wave last season.

“We’ve got nine starters coming back. In 7-on-7, we work what we run and we’ll add some stuff to it. We are going to build on what we did last year, but what we did was get in a base defense and it was really successful.”

Cathedral and Vidalia will meet again in 7-on-7 in two weeks and will also play in July.

“Anytime you can compete is good,” Rushing said. “I appreciate coach Hancock. We talk all the time, and he helped me a lot last year. We’ve got a good relationship, and anytime you can compete against anybody else, you get better.”