Lanier is a football program in disrepair.

The Bulldogs are 0-6 this season, have won a total of six games in the past six years, and haven’t scored a point in two weeks.

Everyone involved with Vicksburg High’s football program knows it should have an easy win on the schedule when they travel to Jackson on Friday to face the Bulldogs. The real challenge is not thinking it.

“It’s a game you don’t want to look by. You still want to study film on them. We’re still going about it as business as usual, because you never want the kids to think one game is more important than the other ones,” Vicksburg coach Marcus Rogers said. “But the reality is they do look at MaxPreps and say, ‘Hey coach, the last two games they’ve been beaten 97-0.’ I said, ‘Well don’t be the team that gets scored on.’ We’ve got goals and we’re still going to get up for them like it’s a championship game.”

Friday’s game will be played at Forest Hill High School in Jackson.

Lanier (0-6, 0-2 Region 2-5A) has not reached the playoffs or had a winning season since 2003, and it doesn’t appear that it will do either this year. For Vicksburg, however, this game does have some importance.

It’s game two of a four-game stretch against sub-.500 opponents. That forms the meat of the region schedule, and the Gators (5-2, 1-1) need to take advantage of it to gain a secure footing in the playoff race. If Vicksburg can run the table in these four games, it’ll host Grenada on Oct. 28 with a likely top-two finish in the region and a home playoff game on the line. Vicksburg has not hosted a playoff game since 2008.

“These next three will set us up for a good situation. Grenada lost to Germantown, which we didn’t need, so we’re fighting for second and that’s still hosting a playoff game,” Rogers said. “That district up north is pretty good, so we need to win out.”

The Gators hurt themselves with a loss to Germantown two weeks ago, but bounced back with a dominating 35-7 win over Neshoba Central.

It was the first time in Rogers’ three-year tenure that the Gators have won the second region game on the schedule, and the first time they’d beaten Neshoba — traditionally a swing game where playoff berths are concerned.

The Gators also had a bounce-back moment within a bounce-back game, when Tyler Wilbert returned a kickoff for a touchdown after Neshoba had scored to cut its deficit to 21-7. Rogers said that play, and the win, showed that the program is starting to turn a corner in the way it handles adversity.

“I was very pleased. I was proud of the guys, because the last two years we stunk it up against Neshoba no matter how they looked. Last week, to play well and come out and put 14 up in the first quarter and then score again right before the half, I was very pleased,” Rogers said. “My biggest game-changing play was when they drove down the field and scored, and we went right back with the kickoff return. That was real good, and I feel showed a testament to where our program is going.”

FRIDAY’S LOCAL GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
Madison Central at Warren Central (Radio: 105.5 FM)
Vicksburg at Lanier (at Forest Hill High School; Radio: 1490 AM)
Porters Chapel at WCCA (Radio: 104.5 FM)
Manchester at St. Al (Radio: 101.3 FM)

ONLINE
For live scoring updates on Friday night, visit twitter.com/vixpostsports or facebook.com/thevicksburgpost