Like a web page that won’t quite load, Vicksburg High is hitting the refresh button during its bye week.

The Gators are nowhere near where they want to be in terms of offensive output or turnover margin, but still emerged from the first half of the season with a respectable 2-2 record and some momentum after last week’s 21-14 victory over Gentry. Their goals — like winning Region 2-5A and hosting a playoff game — are all well within reach.

With that in mind, coach Marcus Rogers has taken this week to let his guys recuperate while mentally preparing for the meat of the schedule that begins next Friday with the region opener at Lanier.

“I’m just keeping my guys mentally focused for the task that we’re still trying to achieve, as far as hosting a playoff game, and getting ready for Lanier,” Rogers said. “It’s our first district ballgame and everybody is 0-0. It’s a new season, and we’re just getting them ready fundamentally and execution wise.”

The Gators haven’t needed to do much refreshing on the defensive side of the ball. They’re allowing 23.5 points per game despite being given a short field to work with due to offensive turnovers and the absence of punter Marc Grace to switch field position. So, while Rogers earned his stripes as Murrah’s offensive coordinator for five seasons, his first Vicksburg team will rely on its defense.

“Hopefully we’re refreshing the offense and not the defense,” he said. “The defense, there’s still probably a couple of little things to clean up, but for the most part we’re going to hang our hat on the defense.”

On offense, Rogers is getting even more fundamental in his approach. The Gators have struggled to gain traction and consistently forced themselves into holes with turnovers and mental mistakes. The first-year head coach is using this idle week to fix those miscues.

“We’re doing a lot of back to the basic type deals, working on a lot of ball security and just executing our plays. I’ve got fullbacks running into quarterbacks, that type of stuff that won’t be tolerated,” Rogers said. “We’re just trying to clean those deals up there. We limited our turnovers last week. Now it’s time to get where we’re trying to go execution wise. That’s the key word this week: execution.”