August 30, 2007

Toward the end of last season, Red Carpet Bowl chairman Rickey Mitchell let the cat out of the bag. The two opponents for this year’s game had been selected and contracts signed.

Then a countdown began in earnest. Football season ended, basketball and baseball came and went leading to summer. Youth sports dominated for a while, but in the back of everyone’s mind was the fact that another football season was approaching.

The excitement had as much to do with our locals as it did with the quality teams the RCB landed. Two years in a row Vicksburg and Warren Central pulverized their weaker opponents. Attendance dwindled mainly because the visiting teams’ fans didn’t travel well. The outcome basically was decided before the teams took the field.

Always nice to get a win to start the season, but ask anyone and they would rather see an early season matchup of Florida-Florida State than Florida-Gardner Webb. Playing Gentry and Kirby amounted to a glorified scrimmage that counted in the stat books.

But this year is quite different. Many around here have heard of how good South Panola and Clarksdale are. How many have actually seen them play? Maybe a few that went to Jackson to watch the state championship games, but neither team plays any games in our area, making this year’s RCB even more of a treat.

It also will give Vicksburg and Warren Central an accurate measure of how they match up against the best this state has to offer. It may even give each team a look at a possible playoff opponent,

We’ll see Warren Central unveil more of a passing attack than has been seen. The Vikings traditionally are a ground attack team. Ask a player who played in 1986 and he will tell you the team runs the same plays. WC is a traditional power because they found what works and they stuck with it. The game has advanced, though, and teams have to bring balance to the table to be successful.

Vicksburg likes to air it out, spread receivers wide. Vicksburg lives for the big play. Their style can be exciting or excruciating to watch. Much has to fall into place for the spread offense to work. But like Warren Central’s run game, the Gators have to find balance in the play-calling. A one-dimensional team is at a decided disadvantage over those that can both run and throw effectively.

It appears that both VHS and WC have installed balance to their offenses and we will see quickly how far they have come.

If both teams can muster the magic to take down two of the state’s best on back-to-back days, it would be like no other football weekend I can remember. Imagine the excitement of not only toppling the state’s most dominant team in South Panola, but then knocking off the No. 2 team the very next night. It would be Mardi Gras, Christmas and New Year’s Eve wrapped into two days. It would elevate football back to its rightful place in the prep sports pecking order. It will bring statewide, and even national attention, on the community.

One other thing to ponder before finding a seat at Viking Stadium tonight. Remember the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, the one that says whoever adorns the cover of the weekly magazine is destined for failure?

Guess who was mentioned on the cover of Sports Illustrated in last week’s issue?

The South Panola Tigers.

Sean P. Murphy is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. E-mail him at

smurphy@vicksburgpost.com