For two weeks, Vicksburg High’s special teams came up with plays big and small to contribute to the team’s success.

On Friday, it did the same in defeat.

From a blocked punt to a mishandled kickoff, the Gators’ special teams were anything but special. A series of mistakes gave or led to points for Warren Central and were a big factor in Vicksburg’s first loss of the season.

“It’ll get you beat,” Vicksburg coach Marcus Rogers said. “We were tweaking some things. They came after the first (punt) and it was unfortunate that they blocked it and got a touchdown because that swung the game.”

The miscues started early.

When the offense went three-and-out on its first series of the game, the Gators lined up to punt. Warren Central’s DeMarcus Jones came unblocked off the left side, blocked Greg Hayden’s punt, and then chased it down in the end zone before making an acrobatic recovery along the end line for a touchdown.

Near the end of the first half, WC’s Shaunterrence Walton picked up a bouncing punt and returned it 11 yards to midfield, leading to a field goal that put the Vikings ahead 10-0. Walton might have been able to take it all the way. He had a clear path to the end zone after rounding the corner, but inadvertently stepped out of bounds.

Vicksburg returnman Paul Wilson let the second half kickoff roll through his legs and was taken down at the 4-yard line. That didn’t directly lead to any points, but turned into a time bomb when the offense couldn’t move the ball. Two series later Warren Central got good field position near midfield and went in to score on a 19-yard run by Jesse Wilson to make it 16-0.

The string of mistakes was in stark contrast to the first two weeks of the season, when the Gators had gotten outstanding special teams play.

In a 14-13 win over Harrison Central in the Red Carpet Bowl, Hayden averaged more than 40 yards per punt and Tedarius Brown had a long kickoff return to set up the game-winning touchdown drive. Last week against Terry, the Gators blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown in a 27-6 win.

“We’re going to re-evaluate things over the weekend,” Rogers said.

While Rogers and his coaching staff examine what went wrong, he was quick to add they won’t lose sight of the big picture — that Friday’s 23-0 loss to Warren Central was only one game, and that the team has also done a lot of things right so far.

The Gators’ defense held WC’s offense to 16 points, the third consecutive game it has held an opponent under 20. The Vikings also had just 229 yards of total offense, which was barely more than Vicksburg’s 195.

Warren Central’s two touchdown drives were more the function of fatigue and bad field position than any defensive breakdowns by Vicksburg. WC’s average starting field position was its own 37-yard line, and four of its eight possessions began at at least its own 40.

“I think we got worn down. They were on the field too much,” Rogers said of his defense. “We continued to go three-and-out and drop balls, and just didn’t execute well on offense.”

Looking forward, the Gators will finally play a true home game this Friday night against Yazoo City. Two of their first three games were in Warren County, but at Warren Central.

It’ll be “Bobby Huell Appreciation Night” at Memorial Stadium. The pressbox will be named for the longtime assistant coach who died in July following a battle with cancer, and there will be a pregame tribute to honor him.

“He’d been up in the pressbox for the past few years during games, so we thought that was a good way to honor him,” Rogers said.

The Yazoo City game will also be the first one of the rest of the Gators’ season. It’s a chance to go into their bye week with a winning record. It’s also a chance to get another win under their belt before beginning the Region 2-5A schedule. Rogers said with what looks like a lot of parity in the region, there’s no reason Friday’s loss can’t be the last one the Gators have to suffer through for a while.

“Ridgeland is struggling. Germantown is not world-beaters. We can still win eight games in a row and go 10-1 and have the best record in (program) history,” Rogers said. “We didn’t talk about it, but losing was always an option. We’ve got to know this game is important for everybody. I felt like we could’ve competed to go undefeated if we got this one, but it wasn’t going to be easy.”

UP NEXT

Yazoo City at Vicksburg

Friday, 7 p.m.

Radio: 1490 AM

Online: For live scoring updates on Friday night, visit Facebook.com/thevicksburgpost and Twitter.com/vicksburgpost