Vicksburg has one motto this season. Finish.

It was something the Gators did precious little of in a 2-9 season. The Gators were good in stretches of play, but key breakdowns and mental lapses ended up biting them in critical moments.

“We’d play 24 minutes, 12 minutes, 30 minutes, 41 minutes,” Vicksburg coach Alonzo Stevens said. “We want to play 48 minutes, that’s our war cry around here. When you’ve got heat on you and heat on you, you’ve got to settle down and think.”

The Gators take on Brandon in the early game of the Red Carpet Bowl at Warren Central on Friday.

One thing Stevens and the Vicksburg coaching staff has stressed is going back to basics. At times last season, the complexity of the gameplan caused too many mistakes caused by overthinking. Players would be caught flat-footed rather than reacting to plays instinctively. Stevens wants each member of his lineup to just focus on his responsibility and nothing more.