The top seed in the Gators Region is one of only a handful in Warren County history to win a state championship.

Vicksburg High’s first combined team finished 10-0-1 and won the 1973 Big 8 Conference championship. Quarterback Ernest Moore tied a county record — since broken — with 28 touchdown passes, while the defense allowed three touchdowns and 26 points all season long.

The ‘73 Gators are also remembered fondly for what they represented off the field. Formed in the wake of desegregation, they were one of the first teams in the city to include both white and black players on the roster. Their teamwork and success set a great example for the city’s residents during a tumultuous time.

Their first-round opponent in the Greatest on the Gridiron bracket is one that came up perhaps one win short of a championship nearly 30 years earlier.

The 1945 Carr Central Greenies averaged 31.8 points per game, and finished the season with five consecutive shutouts. They did not, however, get a chance to play undefeated Tupelo — there was no state playoff system at the time, and Tupelo was not on the regular-season schedule — and thus finished second in the Big 8 standings. Tupelo was 11-0 overall and won the conference title, while Vicksburg was 10-1 and 5-1 in conference play. Carr Central had to wait another 10 years for its first Big 8 title.