Vicksburg High was leading Holmes County Central by three touchdowns in the fourth quarter last week when head coach Marcus Rogers called for a fake punt.

Rogers was sending a message with the play, but not to the team on the other side of the field or anyone the Gators might come across in the Class 5A playoffs. The message was to his punter, Greg Hayden.

The senior had missed a game-tying extra point in overtime the previous week against Grenada. Giving him a rare opportunity to run with the ball, Rogers said, was intended as a pick-me-up.

“I did it on purpose. I wanted him to run it, and I wanted him to get happy, and he ran it for 33 yards,” Rogers said. “I just wanted to do something for him. I wanted him to get his psyche right, because we’re going to need him. He almost scored. The punt return guy tackled him.”

Hayden bounced back nicely after his miss against Grenada. He went 7-for-7 on PATs, averaged 43.5 yards on two punts, with one downed inside the 20-yard line, and had three touchbacks on eight kickoffs.
He also had that fake punt, which was one of three big special teams plays for the Gators in their 49-26 win.

Jeff Scott returned a kickoff 65 yards to set up a touchdown after Holmes County Central scored to take a 7-0 lead. That sparked a run of 28 consecutive points that gave Vicksburg control of the game.

Later on, Cardell Spencer returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown.

Spencer’s touchdown was Vicksburg’s fourth this season on defense or special teams. Rogers said those big plays are an example of a team that’s playing with confidence heading into this week’s playoff opener at Lake Cormorant.

“When you’re winning and guys are playing with high confidence, they believe they can do anything,” Rogers said. “Right before that punt return, Cardell Spencer told me, ‘Coach, I’m fixing to go to the house. He got it, walked the chalk, cut it back across the field, and nobody could stop him.”

Rogers is hoping that last thought extends to the rest of the Gators as well. They’ve scored at least 34 points in seven of their last eight games, and a total of 90 in the last two.

Wide receiver Raheam Moore set Warren County’s single-season record with his 20th touchdown reception in the win over Holmes County Central, they’ve rushed for more than 150 yards as a team in each of their last six games, and quarterback Joe Johnson has had multiple touchdown passes in 11 of 12 games this season.

It all points to a team, Rogers said, that is hitting its stride exactly when it needs to in order to make a deep playoff run.

“The kids are playing with a lot of confidence. All of them. From Cardell Spencer to Jeff Scott, to DeAngelo Dixon to James Allen, he’s in a groove, and especially Raheam Moore and Joe (Johnson),” Rogers said. “With Mike Sims and Marlon Hodge the two-headed monster back there, and the offensive line is picking it up well, we have a situation that we’re happy for because we want to peak at the right time. And this is the right time to be peaking at.”