Friday’s road trip to Holmes County Central will be a reunion of sorts for the Vicksburg Gators. It’s also one they need to win to extend their season, which is overriding some of the sentimentality.

The Gators (3-6, 2-4 Region 2-5A) must win to have a chance at a playoff berth. Opposing them on the other sideline is not only a first-place team, but a coach who helped shape a number of them as players. Holmes (9-1, 6-0) is led by Marcus Rogers, who was Vicksburg’s head coach from 2014-16. Rogers in his first season at Holmes.

Wide receiver Tyrese Wolfe, one of 22 seniors on the VHS roster who played for Rogers, said he stays in touch with his former coach. Come game time, however, there’s simply too much at stake to think about that.

“It’s going to be a lot of respect from the seniors. But at the same time, we’ve got to handle business. I ain’t fixin’ to take it easy on anybody,” Wolfe said.

Current Vicksburg head coach Tim Hughes acknowledged the ties — six of his assistants also worked with Rogers — and that this game would be an emotional one on some fronts. He was coaching in Florida during Rogers’ regime, however, and noted that he might be one of the few people on his own team without a connection.

“The seniors played for him. The juniors were in ninth grade and played for him. The sophomores were in eighth grade in the program he was responsible for,” Hughes said. “So they all have a personal relationship with him, and while he was here he did a good job with them. I understand that. I’ve been in that situation in other places. But personally, I’ve never said a word to the guy.”

Vicksburg is coming off one of its better performances of the season in a 35-28 victory over Callaway last week. It needs a similar outcome this Friday, along with some help from other teams, to reach the Class 5A playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

Vicksburg is in a four-way tie for the fourth and final playoff berth in Region 2-5A with Ridgeland, Canton and Cleveland Central. All of them need to win to get in, but because of various head-to-head tiebreakers none of them controls their destiny. They all need at least one other team to lose.

Vicksburg’s path to the playoffs is to beat Holmes County Central, and have both Ridgeland (at Germantown) and Canton (at Cleveland Central) lose.

With so many favorable results required, and a difficult opponent in front of him, Hughes said he had no plans to do any scoreboard watching until after the game.

“I really don’t have any intention on it, other than after the game to say, ‘Hey, what happened,’” Hughes said. “Whoever ends up getting the spot gets to play another No. 1 seed. Other people might stretch their heads out and rubberneck and see what else is going on. Our intentions would be to get a win and let’s worry about this one.”

It’s a good strategy. The Gators have, unquestionably, the biggest challenge among the four teams vying for that final playoff spot.

Holmes County Central has already clinched the Region 2-5A championship, its first in school history, and is powered by a strong running game. The Jaguars are averaging 353 rushing yards per game, with Robert Jackson (1,353 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Quo’Darious Crigler (945 yards, 12 touchdowns) leading the way.

That’s a bad sign for a Vicksburg defense that has allowed an average of 308.7 rushing yards per game, and has given up 230 yards or more in seven of its nine outings.

“From the beginning of the year, they found out what they do and lately they’ve been doing it really well,” Hughes said. “They’ve got some players on their team and it’s not just one place. Offensively, they’ve got them outside, they’ve got them inside, and they’ve got them running at quarterback. They’ve got a line to play behind, and the same defensively.”

Hughes added that, win or lose, playoffs or not, if the Gators can have a good showing against a top-five team like Holmes it will be a boost to the program as a whole.

“The mindset is to play our best game of the year. It’s our last regular season game. All we can do each and every week is handle what’s in front of us and respect anything else that happens,” Hughes said. “You’re looking at a top-four Class 5A team, and if we can have success against that then whether it means we get to play an extra week or we’re done for the year, we’ll take what we can get. It’s an opportunity to see how far we’ve moved on. It’s a good measuring stick to see where we’re at.”

FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
Provine at Warren Central (Radio:105.5 FM)
Vicksburg at Holmes Co. Central (Radio: 107.7 FM)
Starkville at Clinton
Carroll at Madison Parish
p-Wayne Academy at Central Hinds
p-Sharkey-Issaquena at Tallulah Academy
p-Briarfield Academy at Manchester
p-MAIS playoff game

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