Gators get fresh start as Neshoba Central visits for region opener
Published 1:00 pm Thursday, October 10, 2024
The midseason transition from non-region to region games provides a fresh start for all of Misissippi’s high school football teams.
Vicksburg High and Neshoba Central are embracing the opportunity more than most.
The teams went a combined 1-9 in the first half of the season, but one of them will be 1-0 where it counts after they square off Friday night at Vicksburg’s Memorial Stadium in the MHSAA Region 2-6A opener.
“Everybody is 0-0. This is where it really counts at. Trying to get in the playoffs, trying to be district champs, trying to give yourself an opportunity going to the playoffs with a good enough seed where you give yourself more of a chance to be state champions,” Vicksburg coach Christopher Lacey said. “It’s most definitely a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to go back and look at all the other games and re-evaluate, see what you need to redo and refocus.”
Neshoba Central started 1-4 against a difficult schedule that included perennial powers Louisville and West Point. Vicksburg’s gauntlet was not as daunting but still ended with an 0-5 record.
Three of the Gators’ losses have been by one score, and all five were competitive deep into the fourth quarter. Being a few plays away from the win column was encouraging for Lacey, even if his team hasn’t gotten over the hump yet.
“Most of it was just the football stuff — a block here or a block there, a missed tackle, missed assignment in clutch moments. On a third down and forever we give up a ball on a blown coverage or a missed tackle that could have did this,” Lacey said. “You can practice that stuff all day long, but until you’re out there under the lights and all the anxiety of what’s going on, you can’t learn it. I think our kids have done a good job of learning it, and we’re going to see what happens the next five.”
The next five, of course, are what matters.
Five of the six teams in Region 2-6A enter the second half of the season with a losing record — only Ridgeland, at 3-2, is above .500 — so the idea of the Gators pulling things together doesn’t seem far-fetched.
Three region wins should be enough to reach the postseason in November and erase the memories of a bad September.
“We’re 0-5, but records don’t mean nothing to me. Neshoba is 1-4. I think Warren Central is 2-3. Nobody in our district has a winning record outside of Ridgeland,” Lacey said. “If you look at the records you’d think everybody is trash, but you have to take all of these different variables into consideration. It’s moreso worrying about yourself and what you can do to get a win. I think we stack up against anybody in our district. We’re going to see Friday.”
FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
Neshoba Central at Vicksburg (Radio: 107.7 FM)
Columbia Academy at St. Aloysius (Radio: 101.3 FM)
Columbus Christian at Porter’s Chapel (Radio: 104.5 FM)
Tallulah Academy at Prentiss Christian
Wesson at Port Gibson
Madison Parish at Rayville