[11/26/01]The celebration from the dominating Vicksburg High win over Madison Central is over.

Now the Gators have Starkville on their minds.

Vicksburg (10-3), in territory it has not seen in a decade, faces off with the No. 2 Yellowjackets (12-1) in the North State Championship game Friday night at Vicksburg Memorial Stadium in what may turn out to be a track meet.

Vicksburg coaches started breaking down film and forming scouting reports about 2 p.m. Sunday. They expected to be at the fieldhouse well into the night.

“It feels … that the hard work is still paying off,” said Vicksburg offensive coordinator Jackie Williamson, who turned 30 Saturday. “It’s almost like looking at us in the mirror. They have really good, quick athletes and we also have some good athletes so it should be a really fun game.”

Two explosive offenses will battle against defenses coming off shutouts. Starkville beat Warren Central, 21-0, in the second round on Friday.

“It’s hard going on the road in the playoffs anyway,” said Starkville quarterback DeAngelo Danztler, who had a pair of touchdown passes in the win over WC. “As long as we do our things right and don’t make too many mistakes, we should be able to go to Jackson.”

The winner of the North State title will square off against the South State winner No. 1 Brandon or No. 8 Moss Point at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson on Dec. 7 for the 5A state championship.

Vicksburg got the home game despite the Yellowjackets being the No. 1 seed in Region 1-5A and the Gators carrying the No. 3 seed from 2-5A. Starkville beat Clinton and WC at home, while Vicksburg had to travel in its first playoff game at Columbus.

The Mississippi High School Activities Association evens out home games in the playoffs, and this will give the Gators two home games.

First-year Vicksburg coach Alonzo Stevens said he hopes the home game, and the fact that the Gators are the only team left from Warren County in the playoffs, will galvanize the county’s fans.

“Our fans have been super, and we’ve been carrying that Gator support wherever we’ve gone. We have some die-hard fans,” Stevens said. “If the shoe were on the other foot, I’d be a Viking supporter, or the Flashes or Porters Chapel because it’s Vicksburg.

“This is our community and our town. I hope people will come … this is for the whole community.”

Vicksburg, which has never won a North State title game and hasn’t advanced that far since 1991, is coming off its most dominating performance of the year.

Against a Madison Central team that allowed just seven points per game, the Gators decimated the Jags’ defense for nearly 450 yards and 28 points.

Similarly, the Yellowjackets had 434 yards 273 on the ground against WC. Dantzler, the team’s leading rusher and passer, had 152 yards of total offense.

“We’re going to stay with our scheme and do what we have to to stop him,” said Vicksburg defensive coordinator Robert Erves, whose team kept fleet-footed Madison Central quarterback Dillon Sudduth and Columbus QB Chris Maddox in check.

“I’m really not impressed with him from what I saw compared to the other quarterbacks we’ve seen. … Our defensive backs stepped up and played a great game this past Friday and they will have to do the same this week.”

So will the Yellowjackets.

Starkville packed the line of scrimmage to stop WC’s offense and limited the Vikings to 160 yards.

The multi-dimensional Vicksburg offense poses a bigger challenge, scheme-wise. Using four and five receivers and a dominating running game behind the mammoth offensive line, Vicksburg puts pressure on almost any defense.

Phelan Gray and J.J. Brown combined for 239 yards and all four touchdowns against Madison Central.

“We have to work hard, see what Vicksburg’s main plays are and play hard in that game just like we did in this one,” Starkville linebacker Chaz Harris said. “We need a complete game on offense and defense.”