INDIANOLA — The Cathedral Green Wave will hit the road for the second round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools AAA playoffs, and the trip won’t be a small one.

The Green Wave will travel three hours to take on No. 2 seeded Indianola Academy, who boasts a 12-0 record this season.

“A three-hour trip can have a bearing on a game,” Cathedral head coach Ron Rushing said. “But like I’ve said all year, we’ve got older guys that have been there in these situations.”

Indianola Academy easily handled business in the first round, downing Riverfield Academy 44-7, and the Colonels haven’t allowed opponents to score double-digit points in their past four games.

With inclement weather expected, Rushing said the Green Wave will more than likely be forced to run right at the Colonels.

“(Weather) is going to have a big impact as far as passing and with the balls being wet,” Rushing said. “We practiced with wet balls all day yesterday, and we are doing everything we can to prepare.”

If the Green Wave are forced to run, a healthy Dee Fleming will be a big boost.

“He’s practiced and is ready to go,” Rushing said.

Fleming ran for 50 yards on six carries last week and also had a rushing touchdown.

On the flip side, the Green Wave played arguably their best game of the season defensively last week, limiting Bowling Green to just 60 yards of total offense, and Rushing said that type of performance will need to carry over to defeat Indianola.

“The last two weeks we’ve been disciplined,” Rushing said. “We’ve played hard all year, but not disciplined.”

The Colonels are a run-based team, and bring in 1,000 yard rusher Brandon Simpson as their leading threat.

“Big, strong and physical are the three words that pop out when I talk to other coaches about them,” Rushing said. “They have a physical running game. They run a two tight end set and like running behind those big linemen. They have three or four good running backs.”

The Colonels don’t throw much, but when they do, Rushing said they go for it all.

“They have some good skill guys and when they throw, they put points on the board,” Rushing said.

The Green Wave and Colonels are scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.