Gators tire late, drop two close games at spring football jamboree

Published 8:00 am Saturday, May 19, 2018

PELAHATCHIE — Late in Thursday’s spring jamboree against Pelahatchie, Vicksburg High linebacker Antonio Calvin let out a scream of agony that could be heard across the field.

“I’m cramping!” he shouted.

Three teammates picked Calvin up and carried him to the sideline. The minor injury was both the start of a chain reaction that led to the Gators’ defeat, and symbolic of how they got there.

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Fatigue led to the loss of a starter and other mistakes. Mistakes led to Pelahatchie scoring on a touchdown pass with 12 seconds left, and a 21-16 victory over the Gators. And the loss, VHS head coach Tim Hughes hopes, will lead to better focus when the games count for real in a few months.

“As long as we were doing what we were supposed to be, effort wise, we did well. It’s when effort went away. And effort went away because of not being in condition. Effort went away because of being confused about what’s going on, and then when you’ve got to think out there on the field then all of a sudden effort slows down,” Hughes said. “So it’s getting better at what we do. Having that knowledge, having that confidence in what we do, and obviously getting better conditioned. We’re going to have to play with these guys going both ways. There’s no other option.”

Vicksburg played two quarters each on Thursday against Scott Central and Pelahatchie, and lost both games.

Scott Central beat the Gators 14-12, while Pelahatchie won 21-16 when Jamal Johnson turned a short pass from Javeous Purvis into a 20-yard touchdown in the final seconds.

Pelahatchie drove 75 yards in three plays and 34 seconds after the Gators had rallied from a 14-0 deficit to take the lead with less than a minute to go. The big play for Pelahatchie was a 55-yard pass from Purvis to C.J. Wilder on the first play of the drive.

“We’re in something to prevent that whatsoever, and the lack of focus puts us in a bad leverage where we shouldn’t have had a bad leverage. We should have had somebody over the top of it, and he wasn’t over the top of it,” Hughes said.

Hughes blamed the lack of focus on both fatigue — the Gators played both scrimmages back-to-back, with the first starting at 5 p.m. on a humid 85-degree day — and a lack of conditioning to deal with it. He also noted that the spring game was merely a way point on a bigger journey, and provided proof that conditioning was an area to focus on when summer workouts begin in June.

“Structure is what I was looking for and early, while we felt good, the structure was there. Late, when we stopped feeling so good, when things were happening, structure started to break down,” Hughes said. “Whether it was on the sideline, whether it was what we were doing in the middle of the field, structure breaks down. That’s part of it, and that’s something we’ve got to get better at. And we will.”

Despite two tough losses, there were plenty of bright spots for a VHS team that is rebuilding its roster after losing 34 seniors from last year.

Running back Tacarie Stewart ripped off a 96-yard touchdown run against Scott Central and also scored on a 3-yard run that tied the game against Pelahatchie with 46 seconds left.

“Coach called ‘heavy,’ and we’d been running heavy all practice. That’s my favorite formation, so when he called it I got a feeling. Then the lineman did the blocking and opened a hole, and me and my speed just beat the safety,” Stewart said of his long touchdown run. “I knew I heard footsteps and I couldn’t slow up then.”

The Gators’ defense gave up some big plays — five of 20 yards or more, including four of the five touchdowns they allowed — but also came up with some stops. Vicksburg kept Scott Central from scoring after the Rebels had a first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line, and forced a late fumble against Pelahatchie that set up the go-ahead touchdown drive.

Quarterback Levi Wyatt also showed potential. The sophomore-to-be was a combined 22-for-31 passing for 271 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the two games.

Wyatt led the Gators on a touchdown drive, capped by his 11-yard TD pass to Cedric Phillips, in the final five minutes against Scott Central to pull them within 14-12. A two-point conversion run was no good, however.

The Gators then fell behind 14-0 against Pelahatchie before Wyatt led two long scoring drives to give them the lead. He threw an 8-yard TD pass to Robert Wilson with 5:42 left, and then directed the Gators back down the field in the two-minute drill after Pelahatchie fumbled at the VHS 21-yard line.

Wyatt was 4-for-7 for 67 yards on the last drive, which was finished off by Stewart’s 3-yard TD run.
Wilson caught eight passes for 96 yards and a touchdown against Pelahatchie. He was one of seven VHS receivers who caught passes in that game. Four receivers caught passes against Scott Central.

“We fought, and I was proud for that. That’s what you want to see out of your team, is people not quitting,” Hughes said. “We got a defensive stop and put ourselves back in the game when it looked like we were ready to just shut down. But you’ve got to complete the game. It’s always about finishing.”

Spring practice, however, is finished and now the Gators will transition to summer and preseason preparation. The season opener is at home on Aug. 17 against Oxford in the Red Carpet Bowl. Between now and then, Hughes said, the Gators will strive to clean up their mistakes and what led to them.

“We’ve got to work on being a team with one another. We’re going to have over 30 opportunities to meet with one another this summer and get better at being together,” Hughes said. “If they do that, then we’ll clean a lot of stuff up as far as conditioning and confusion goes. When you can clear those two things up, and you can just fly around and make plays on both sides of the ball, this is going to be a fun team to be around.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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