[01/12/01] Vicksburg High’s Michael Thornton and John Griffing hooked up four times Thursday to give the Gators a 6-1 win at Natchez and to put themselves in the VHS record book.

Thornton, a sophomore forward, set single-season and career scoring marks at VHS after getting a hat trick in the first half. He scored his 17th of 2000-01, the 27th of his career, in the second half. All four were on assists from senior midfielder John Griffing, who now has VHS records of 17 on the season and 27 for his short career.

“They really started to work together like peanut and butter,” VHS coach Josh Harper said. “Everybody wanted to help them get the record. It was a team effort. If the team wasn’t behind them, they wouldn’t have gotten the ball to John.

“Now we need a big team effort on Tuesday,” he added, referring to the rematch with archrival Warren Central. The Gators beat the Vikings for the first time in three years, 1-0, on Dec. 7.

Sophomores Jeremy Johnson and David Pate also scored for the Gators (5-5-1), who were coming off a disappointing 3-3 tie with Class 1A Madison-St. Joe on Tuesday night.

“We’re still undefeated in 2001,” Harper said.

“If we play hard, it should be another good game (at WC).”

Thornton passed the record set by Matt Bessonette in the early 1990s and Griffing bested the marks set by Scott Payne and Greg Ross.