Vicksburg coach Marcus Rogers can’t escape it.

It doesn’t matter if he’s reading the newspaper, shopping at Kroger or even hosting a barbecue for his players, it seems like everybody just wants to know one thing and one thing only: Is he ready for Friday night? It’s a simple question that offers a much more complex answer as the first-year head coach gets his initial taste of the rivalry that is Vicksburg vs. Warren Central. But the building hype surrounding this game is only one of the numerous storylines that encompasses this crosstown matchup dating back to 1981.

This year, the tense relationship between Viking and Gator fans might take a back seat to the familiar one between Rogers and Warren Central coach Josh Morgan. Rogers may be a newcomer to the city of Vicksburg but he’s no stranger to Morgan’s stout defensive schemes. As the offensive coordinator at Murrah for five years, the new Gator head coach has been playing chess with Morgan on the football field for half a decade and counting.

“Like I told (my players Monday), this is not my first rodeo. As the head coach of Vicksburg it is, but this will be the fifth time I’ve played Warren Central in the last five years,” he said. “Me and a couple of the other coaches across the track talked about it also. It is what it is. We’re going to have the same schemes.”

Warren Central held Rogers’ offense to one touchdown last year, the only team to stop Murrah from scoring at least 28 points in a game. As if Vicksburg needed any more motivation, a new goal has presented itself in one single digit on the scoreboard.

“Last year their defense was the stingiest defense, I think, in the whole state. Not just 6A, just in the state period. Out of all the defenses I faced last year, they were the toughest one,” Rogers said.

With his old team cruising to an average of 37 points per game in 2013, Warren Central plugged every outlet Murrah tried to expose en route to a convincing 24-7 win. It’s a loss that still bitterly permeates in the air as Rogers talks about how his new rival was able to reign in his explosive offense just one short year ago.

“Even before getting this job … every week I watched the Warren Central game because I just wanted to see, what did they do to me this year to hold me down to seven like that, because that hasn’t happened in years prior,” Rogers said.

With that memory freshly boiling in his mind, Rogers has set out to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It will take full cohesion from an offensive unit that has yet to hit its stride, but with quarterback Marquez Pickett finding his rhythm and the run game showcasing its talent early, Vicksburg believes it has a shot at shocking the city Friday night.

“When we’re clicking, we’re going to be hard to stop,” Rogers said. “I just think this week right here is going to be our week to go ahead and do what we do on offense.”

The offensive guru has been forced to hang his hat on defense so far this season and the results have been promising. Vicksburg has allowed only 19 points per game through two contests, but will face possibly its stiffest test Friday night in a balanced Viking attack that can air it out and pound it on the ground.

WC had more than 300 rushing yards in a season-opening win over Terry, then used a three-touchdown performance by quarterback Alex Stevens to beat Callaway the next week.

“Defensively, we’re where we want to be,” Rogers said. “The effort is there, everything is great, they’re challenging each other, and they’re leaning on their feet. By every means necessary, they’re trying to get the ball out of there.”

Penetrating Warren Central’s disciplined 4-4 defense will be a major challenge, but one Vicksburg will gladly undertake as it prepares for the game that’s been circled on the schedule all summer. With the entire city watching, the Gators have repeated their mantra of “shock the world” all week. Say it enough, they believe, and it will become a reality.

“We want to be a playoff team. We want to host a playoff game. What better game than this one,” Rogers said. “Warren Central is a perennial playoff team the last couple of years, and I don’t think we’ll face anybody else in 5A with the type of talent they have, the type of coaching they have and the type of just quality program that they have. What better game to play to have a measuring stick than this one right here?”