Vicksburg High is coming off its first winless football season in more than 70 years and has to replace several excellent players at key positions.

And yet, when he described the month-long spring practice period that’s about to conclude, head coach Christopher Lacey kept using a surprising word — “fun.”

“The energy in practice has been good because the kids have been ticked off about last season. They don’t like that umbrella hanging over them,” Lacey said. “This has been the most fun spring practice I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

The enjoyment, Lacey explained, is in seeing a new group of players put their own stamp on the program as they grow into bigger roles and carve an identity. There are 32 seniors on the current roster, many of whom will be first-time starters.

It’s also fun to see them use last year’s dismal season as fuel to turn things around.

The Gators finished 0-10 for just the second winless season by a team wearing the Vicksburg High brand — the current VHS, or its predecessors Cooper High, Carr Central and the original VHS — in a century. The other was in 1952.

Lacey is understandably eager to put that bad memory well behind, but also wants to retain a small kernel of bitterness to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“You’ve got to be one of those people who put the past behind you. If you continue to dwell on 0-10 you’re going to hate it. I hate it. Everybody hated it. The school hates it. The community hates it. The challenge is going back to where we started,” Lacey said. “That’s fun. That’s life in general. You can’t dwell on the past. You have to learn from your failures. You’ve got to learn from your mistakes and move on.”

Five of Vicksburg’s 10 losses last season were one-score games, which might offer some encouragement for a quick turnaround if there weren’t some big pieces to replace.

Running backs DeCorey Knight Jr. and Cedrick Blackmore combined for 1,600 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and both are graduating next week. Knight was also the team’s leading receiver.

Nick Carson, Jadarius Henderson and Ja’Quez Jones are working at running back, but none have seen much time at the position.

All four starting defensive linemen are also leaving. Lacey said the position group is deep, but raw.

“Defensive line, we’re finding those first four,” Lacey said. “We’re young on the defensive line. Just getting new people to be in those positions has been a challenge, but it’s been a good one because it’s been a lot of competition. We’ve got an eight-man rotation that’s fighting for four (starting) spots.”

The Gators will play a preseason scrimmage vs. Clinton on Aug. 22, and the season opener is Aug. 29 at Natchez.
Before then, they’ll have two months of summer workouts. Friday’s spring game at Jefferson County was canceled because of the threat of severe weather and poor field conditions.

It’s just one checkpoint in a long offseason, the end of phase one and the start of the transition to phase two. Still, Lacey said, it’s important to see what tweaks need to be made on the practice field this summer.

“It’s the foundation for everything. You get to see what team you’ve got, who is who, who grew up, who’s emerging since the last time,” Lacey said. “I feel like it’s one of the most important parts because you get to teach the fundamentals. When you get to the fall it’s all about game planning and game prep. The summer and fall is when you’re teaching them fundamentals.”