New’ Vicksburg squad has eye on future, title
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 11, 2001
[12/10/01] Tim Brown put Vicksburg High’s season in perspective right after the Gators’ season-ending loss to Starkville.
“I’m proud of our offense, they did their job. We didn’t. I’ll take the blame for this, that’s my defense,” the senior linebacker said after VHS was beaten in the North State championship.
Years of bickering on the sidelines, coaches yelling at coaches and players blaming teammates for bad plays went up in smoke this year. Brown’s statement capped a season in which the Gators won 10 games and made it farther into the playoffs then any VHS team in the past 10 years.
“It got frustrating on the sidelines,” Brown said of the team’s attitude in his sophomore and junior seasons. “It got so ugly sometimes, you’d have people leave and get dressed in the middle of the game. You can’t do that in 5A football.”
Brown exemplified the new Vicksburg High, a team that is no longer considered a step-child to Warren Central. Even in the 27-14 loss to the rival Vikings, coaches saw a silver lining on an otherwise dark cloud.
Down 27-0 in the fourth quarter, fans started heading for the exits. But the Gators put together back-to-back late touchdown drives, turning a blowout into a respectable game.
“It was the old thing of are the Gators gonna lay down?’ ” Stevens said. “And we didn’t lay down. That carried over to Columbus.”
Vicksburg came back from 14-0 to beat the Falcons, 29-28 for its first playoff win since 1993.
“That game started off horrible,” Stevens said of his team’s first-quarter deficit. “I looked down the sidelines, though, and there wasn’t any helmet-kicking or fussing; everyone was pulling for each other.
“I saw this team grow. They could have said, it’s over, let’s get a meal and go home. We’ll do it next year and blame each other for this one.’ These guys never did that.”
Then the Gators enacted revenge on Madison Central, a team that historically owned Vicksburg. The Jaguars beat VHS in the regular season, 10-0, only to get dumped in “The Swamp,” 28-0, setting up the North State title game against Starkville.
The big playoff wins, though, were not the turning point of the season. That happened on Aug. 31 in the Red Carpet Bowl Classic, Stevens’ first game.
The Gators whipped tradition-rich John Ehret of New Orleans, 21-7, setting up a run that saw VHS lose to two teams playing for state titles (South Pike and Starkville), MC and Warren Central.
Starkville, which escaped VHS with a 38-31 win in the North State title game, went on to beat Moss Point for the state championship, 34-0.
“John Ehret was the biggest (win of the year) because we played tradition,” Stevens said. “They are a year-in, year-out powerhouse. That game set the tone for us.”
Vicksburg won its first three games before losing in the home-opener to South Pike, which lost to Clarksdale, 13-0, in the Class 4A title game.
A win and a loss followed, then a four-game winning streak, including a home win over rival Clinton, led up to the WC matchup.
Fans increased and the excitement level for Gator football was at a high rarely seen in the last decade.
“We are so proud of the way the community got behind us,” Stevens said. “We sold out The Swamp,’ and that’s good for the kids. On the road, I’ve had people compliment us on our following. That’s what it will take to keep this thing going.”
Stevens, who had 99 players show up the Monday after the season ended to start work toward next season, knows this is not a one-year deal. The work must continue for a repeat, and the ultimate goal of winning a state championship.
“There’s just something about winning in the playoffs and then winning the second round,” Stevens said. “Then to go down to the wire (against Starkville) and look across and see 33 seniors, 11 on defense, it’s something.
“These are things to build on one step at a time.”