[10/11/03]JACKSON Vicksburg’s defense showed a ruthless mean streak in its 23-0 win over Forest Hill Friday night.

Led by a stellar performance from Ray Kline, the Gators’ defense stifled the Rebels. Kline tackled Forest Hill quarterback Tommy Burrell in the end zone for a safety, added another sack later and also returned a fumble for a score.

“We played in spurts all year,” Kline said. “Tonight we were just able to put it all together and play a perfect game.”

Vicksburg (4-3, 3-0 Region 2-5A) held Forest Hill (3-4, 0-3) to 76 yards of offense in the game, forced a pair of fumbles and added two interceptions. The second half was even worse as the Rebels ran 15 plays for 25 yards.

“That’s what I’ve been wanting to see. When you play defense like that, you’re all right,” VHS coach Alonzo Stevens said. “If we’re going to win a championship, we’re going to have to do it on the legs of the defense. I’ve been saying it all year and it’s been getting there.

“This is the game I wanted to see from them.”

Forest Hill’s opening drive seemed to set the tone for the night when Ben Shelton intercepted Burrell’s pass and ran 69 yards for a touchdown. Shelton then took the snap on the fake field goal and hit Maurice Taylor for the two-point conversion.

While the defense stepped up, the Gators’ offense sputtered.

Vicksburg twice settled for Sean McGowan field goals of 34 and 28 yards in the second quarter, bringing the halftime score to 14-0.

In the third quarter, Vicksburg turned the ball over on downs twice inside the 20.

“When you’re in the red zone, you’re expecting to score, automatic,” Jackson said. “You shouldn’t have to force plays just to score. We’re supposed to click like that. It wasn’t clicking tonight at all.”

But Jackson said he didn’t feel the need to force plays with the way the defense was playing.

“It was way easy on me. I had no pressure,” he said. “I didn’t think nothing of the game. When I saw the defense fired up, I didn’t think nothing of it.”

Vicksburg didn’t throw a single pass and just ate up the clock with the run all through the second half.

“With the defense playing like that, there’s no sense in running up the score,” Stevens said of the conservative approach.

After Vicksburg turned the ball over on downs inside the Forest Hill 10 near the end of the third quarter, Kline chased Burrell down in the end zone for a safety.

Then with 57 seconds left in the game, Burrell fumbled the ball in a pile of players. The play seemed to be over, but Kline emerged from the mass of bodies with the ball and ran 24 yards for the touchdown, giving the Gators the 23-0 lead.

“One of our linemen hit the ball out of his hand. I just kicked it out the pile and picked it up and took off running,” Kline said.

After a rocky start to the season, Vicksburg now joins Warren Central as the only undefeated teams in region play.

“We knew we could do it,” Kline said. “We just played tough teams and didn’t play perfect ballgames. We just let a few games slip away from us.”