October 11, 2007

Football season seems to take forever to get here when toiling on the fields of youth baseball in the summer swelter, but once it arrives, it flies by like nothing else.

Vicksburg High is still in the thick of the Region 3-4A race, but it cannot allow itself anymore meltdowns like the one last Friday.

Against a team playing without its best player and which had allowed 53 points to Canton a week before, the Gators stumbled their way through a 22-15 loss to Yazoo City. With standout running back Desmond Johnson on the field, Yazoo City was a force; without him they were far less. Yet Vicksburg, at home, allowed a team with much less talent to walk away with a victory.

With undefeated Ridgeland alone atop the region standings and two other teams tied with Vicksburg for second, the Gators cannot afford to take another night off like they did last week. Region 3-4A is one of the weaker divisions in Class 4A and one Vicksburg should rule. Finish first or second and the Gators will host a playoff game, but finish third or fourth and a likely trip to either Clarksdale or Lafayette County is on the horizon.

Similarly Warren Central’s road to a possible playoff berth will require some good fortune and an upset or two. The Vikings won their first region game against winless Greenville 10-0 last week and face Madison Central Friday night at 7.

MC and Northwest Rankin are each 2-0 in the region, with four others clogged at 1-1. With games remaining against Clinton, Provine and Grenada, the Vikings will need to find an offensive groove in a hurry. As the old saying says, defense wins championships. But without an offense, making the playoffs will be difficult at best.

The biggest surprise in Warren County has to be Porters Chapel Academy. The Eagles lost record-setting passer Hayden Hales, all-time leading receiver Cole Smith, not to mention most of the defense. As if the Eagles weren’t thin enough coming into the season, a rash of injuries to key players — most on the offensive line — have had coach Randy Wright scrambling for the right combination.

After a stunning win over then-No. 1 Heidelberg last Friday, PCA is 5-2 and unbeaten in the conference. Last season we knew PCA would make the playoffs, but this year’s team is surprising everyone.

St. Aloysius has shown drastic improvements, but is still not the caliber of the upper-echelon teams in Region 4-1A. Puckett, Mount Olive and Bogue Chitto are hands-down the finest teams in the region, which leaves one available playoff spot. Dexter, a team that has already beaten St. Al, has one loss in the region making the Flashes’ run to a postseason spot unlikely.

They still have a rekindling of an old rivalry in one week at home against Madison St. Joe. These two Catholic schools used to play annually, but have not met in this century.

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

smurphy@vicksburgpost.com