WIN!Gray, defense spearhead VHS victory

Vicksburg High QB Justin Henry, right, chest bumps offensive lineman Paul “Moose” Gorney after the Gators’ 27-12 victory over Warren Central at Memorial Stadium Friday night. It was the first win in the last 12 tries and the second in the 22-year series for Vicksburg. (The Vicksburg Post/C. Todd Sherman)

[11/09/02]For the first time in 12 years, tears of joy flowed on the Vicksburg High sideline after their meeting with Warren Central, and tears of sadness trickled down the Vikings’ cheeks.

Phelan Gray ran for 242 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries, Justin Henry threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and the VHS defense held WC to 92 yards of total offense as the Gators beat their crosstown rivals for the first time since 1990, 27-12.

“It feels real good to get the monkey off our back,” said VHS defensive back D’Eldrick Taylor, who led the Gators with 13 tackles. “You can’t help but feel all right beating Warren Central.”

The win, combined with Clinton’s victory over Madison Central, left VHS in second place in Region 2-5A. The Gators will host Horn Lake in the first round of the playoffs next week, while the Vikings will travel to Starkville and try to find a solution to their sudden woes.

WC lost its third straight, allowed more than 300 yards for the second straight week, and didn’t come close to stopping Gray. The bruising fullback averaged 6.9 yards per carry and converted nearly half of his attempts into first downs.

“That big old offensive line, they did a smart thing. They took advantage of their size advantage. I was hoping they weren’t smart enough to do that,” WC coach Robert Morgan said. “They whupped us at our own game.”

Despite the Gators’ dominance on the stat sheet, the Vikings were able to keep the game close until the end with a combination of short drives and big plays.

Will Clark’s 40-yard field goal midway through the first quarter capped a 25-yard drive and gave WC a 3-0 lead that lasted until VHS cashed in on the first mistake of the game early in the second quarter.

On second-and-5 from the Viking 26, WC wide receiver Amos Chase fumbled an option pitch in the backfield. A horde of Gators swamped the play, and Johnny Daniel carefully picked the ball up and rumbled 18 yards in front of a convoy of blockers to give the Gators a 7-3 lead.

“I had a dream last night that I picked up a fumble and took it to the house. When I saw that ball lying there I knew I was taking it in,” said Daniel, who also had 10 tackles.

The excitement on the VHS sideline didn’t last long, however.

WC’s Larry King returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the VHS 25-yard line to set up a 39-yard field goal by Clark, and VHS’ Marcus Stokes lost the ball on the next kickoff.

Vaughn Mims recovered Stokes’ fumble, and Jeremy Ferguson hit King for a 29-yard touchdown pass on the next play to put WC on top 12-7 with 7:47 to play in the second quarter.

Unlike in previous years, however, the Gators didn’t fold at the first sign of trouble. A holding penalty on a punt pushed VHS back to its own 11, but Gray got them out of the hole with a 38-yard run to midfield on the first play of the drive.

“It was real big,” Gray said. “I knew I had to come out, make a big play and step it up. It was that time.”

The Gators continued to run the ball down the throat of the Vikings, moving the chains and the clock until they faced a first-and-goal from the WC 3-yard line with 18 seconds left in the half.

With no timeouts, the situation appeared to call for a pass. Instead, VHS coach Alonzo Stevens listened to his offensive line and called another run for Gray up the middle and it paid off.

Gray bulled his way just across the goal line for the touchdown to put VHS back on top, 13-12, with 13 seconds to play in the half.

“The offensive line came over and said let’s do it,'” Stevens said. “When they’re in a zone the way they were tonight, you’ve got to listen to them.”

WC moved the ball early on the opening drive of the second half, until Ferguson was baited into an interception by James Jackson. Ferguson tried to throw a deep pass down the right sideline but Jackson, playing safety, floated over and picked off the pass.

The interception set up a 12-play, 60-yard drive for the Gators that was capped by Justin Henry’s 9-yard TD pass to tight end Sean Gibbs. It was one of only two passes on the drive, and was a perfect toss off of a play-action fake.

WC was stopped on its next possession, but a roughing the kicker call on a punt gave the Vikings a first down at the VHS 44. A 13-yard run by Andrew Patten, coupled with a personal foul for a late hit, moved the ball inside the 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and WC threatened to tie the game.

The VHS defense stiffened there, though. Fields carried three straight times to move the ball to the 6-yard line, where WC faced a fourth-and-goal.

Ferguson was flushed from the pocket by the Gator pass rush, and threw incomplete to an open Rod Montgomery in the end zone.

“We got a guy wide open in the end zone and we couldn’t get it to him,” Morgan said, adding he thought about kicking a field goal before going for it. “I thought about everything. Probably everything I did tonight was wrong.”

The Gators quickly marched to their own 32-yard line on the ensuing possession before the drive stalled. Rather than punt on fourth-and-2, however, Stevens again took some advice and went for it.

“I looked at (defensive coordinator Robert) Erves and he said go for it.’ That shows the confidence of the defense,” Stevens said. “We felt the way our offensive line and our defense was playing, it was a safe play.”

And again, Gray made him look like a genius when he picked up 2 yards to keep the drive alive. VHS kept the ball for another 10 plays and four minutes, giving it up only after Henry scored on a quarterback sneak to seal the game with 2:51 to play.

“I was thinking back to eighth grade, when I got stopped on fourth-and-1,” Gray said of his key conversion. “That hurt me back then, and I knew I had to go real hard this time.”

WC went three-and-out on its next possession, and Morgan conceded defeat by punting from his own 20.

After a few more Gator running plays and a kneeldown by Henry, the long-awaited celebration was on at Memorial Stadium.

Stevens and Erves were doused with water buckets, and players splashed water on each other and jumped for joy after the final seconds melted away.

Meanwhile, on the Viking sideline, players simply stood motionless as pandemonium surrounded them. Some brushed back tears after the postgame handshake, and others seemed to try to avoid it altogether.

After a brief meeting with his team, Morgan praised the Gators’ effort.

“They’re the real deal when they do it right,” Morgan said.

Stevens said it was the biggest win of his career at VHS, which includes more than 20 years as an assistant and head coach.

“I was on the (1990 team), but this one … There’s so much hard work these kids have done, and time the parents have put in with all of the camps and everything,” Stevens said. “These kids have really paid the price to be where they are right now.”