photo by Marcus Frazier

Vidalia High School’s Kevin Johnson carries the ball down field earlier this season when the Vikings faced Ouachita Christian School. The Vikings carry a 1-1 record into tonight’s game against Mangham.

Faircloth warns of homecoming distractions as Vidalia faces Mangham

Tance Hughes

Published Friday, September 26, 2008

VIDALIA — A week after beating rival Ferriday 24-20, Vidalia High School will play host to Mangham High School for the Vikings’ homecoming game.

The Vikings (1-1) are only playing in their third game of the season after having their opener against Block cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav.

“We are just now going,” Vidalia head coach Dee Faircloth said. “We did better on defense but we still aren’t where we want to be.”

After a mediocre performance against Ouachita Christian School, Vidalia quarterback Caleb Vines improved greatly in the Ferriday game and looks to continue that success this week against the Dragons.

“Caleb made a big improvement last week,” Faircloth said. “It was a big pressure game.”

Kevin Johnson, Gary Stewart, John Brixey and Vines all stepped up big last week for the Vikings.

As for this week’s game, Faircloth noted that Mangham runs a spread offense and throws the ball much more than they run it.

“They have a good quarterback and great receivers,” Faircloth said. “We have to stop their offense and put pressure on their quarterback.

“We will also need good coverage in the secondary.”

After last week’s match against the Trojans, Faircloth said his team was kind of beat up.

“It’s going to be a tough game this week,” Faircloth said. “We were roughed up some last week.”

As for the homecoming distractions, Faircloth had one thing to say.

“Homecoming is the worst thing God ever created,” Faircloth said. “If there was one thing I could get rid of, it would be homecoming.”