Vicksburg searching for identity|[10/12/07]
Published 12:00 am Friday, October 12, 2007
Will the good Vicksburg Gators that blew out Pearl and Callaway show up or will it be the bad Gators that melted down in the second half of last week’s loss to Yazoo City? Winless Yazoo County gets to find out tonight when the Gators visit for the first meeting between the two schools.
Yazoo County is in its first year as a Class 4A school and the transition has been difficult, while Vicksburg is a former 5A school that is in its first year in 4A since the late 1980s. None of that seemed to matter last week as the Gators wasted a nearly perfect defensive first half and three field goals from Patrick Parker to drop a 22-15 decision to Yazoo City.
Vicksburg offensive coordinator Jackie Williamson said the Gators (4-2, 2-1) have spent much of the week trying to recapture their focus.
“We’re hoping the good team shows up this week,” Williamson said.
Signs posted in the Gators locker room are trying to reinforce a return to the way the Gators played in winning four straight games, including the first two in Region 3-4A.
“Will we play like we did in the Yazoo City defeat or will we play like champs,” one sign read.
Gator tackle Jarvis Holmes took the message to heart.
“I plan on having a good game this week,” he said.
“We’ve spent a good part of this week refocusing ourselves,” added Williamson, who had to run Wednesday’s practice in the absence of coach Alonzo Stevens, who was dealing with the death of his brother in law.
“We know these last four games will make us,” Williamson said. “But we’ve still got to get healthy, because we’re pretty banged up.”
The Gators had to play without senior guard Tim Jones last week and his loss may have been a reason the team struggled to run the ball against the Indians. Vicksburg had just 63 yards rushing compared to 220 the week before in a 41-20 win at Pearl.
“Tim did not play against Yazoo City because of a high ankle sprain and he may not play this week,” Williamson said. “He’s one of our best linemen and our only senior and he’s held that group together. But then Yazoo City did some real good things defensively that affected us.”
The Gators were able to attack the Indians with their fleet set of receivers. Quarterback Stanton Price completed 20 of 33 passes for 233 yards. Senior John Qualls had his best game of the season with eight catches for 109 yards. Qualls now leads Warren County with 23 receptions for 407 yards.
Delmon Robinson and Les Lemons have combined for another 33 receptions for 455 yards. The speedy group has allowed Price to go over 1,000 yards for the season in just six games.
Yazoo County, meanwhile, has had a tough year, losing all six of its games. But the Panthers are coming off their best game of the season in a 30-25 loss to Canton which sits in a four-way tie with the Gators in the region at 2-1.
“First, they lost a lot of kids off their team last year that was 10-2 and went to the second round in the 3A playoffs. Then, the coach left for Shannon,” Williamson said. “But they’ve still got some talent left.”