For a month, it seemed like the Vicksburg Gators had turned over a new leaf.

They were ferocious on defense, opportunistic on special teams, and efficient enough on offense to turn most of their games into comfortable wins.

And then they went to Germantown on Friday night and reverted back to their old ways.
The Gators committed four turnovers and never led in losing 33-13 to the Mavericks in their Region 2-5A opener. It’s the third consecutive season in which Vicksburg has taken a winning record into the Germantown game and lost.

“We stunk it up,” Vicksburg coach Marcus Rogers said. “We lacked execution in all three phases of the game. We didn’t see it coming. We had a good week of practice and everybody was healthy. The effort just has to be better.”

Noah Greenwood had a 26-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard interception return for another score for Germantown (3-2, 1-0 Region 2-5A). Jamie Johnson and Tysheid Anderson each scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter to put the Mavericks ahead 14-0.

Vicksburg (4-2, 0-1) got on the board when it recovered a fumble — one of four turnovers its defense forced — and Joe Johnson scored on a 2-yard run. The PAT was blocked, however. The Gators also had a bad punt snap sail out of the end zone to give Germantown a safety in the fourth quarter.

Vicksburg’s only other touchdown was a 9-yard pass from backup quarterback Devontay Knight to Raheam Moore in the final minute of the game. Moore finished with four catches for 46 yards.

“It’s very disappointing, because we’re the kings of shooting ourselves in the foot,” Rogers said. “It just wasn’t our night.”

The Gators will host Neshoba Central next week to kick off a four-game stretch against teams that are at or below .500. It’s a stretch that can put them back in the Region 2-5A championship hunt — if they don’t misstep again.

“We’ve got to battle back, because the next four games are all very winnable games. We wanted this one because it would have put us in the driver’s seat,” Rogers said.