photo by Hannah Reel

Vidalia’s Quan Riley gains yardage before being taken down by Avoyelles’ Jarvin Eggins during their game earlier this season. The Vikings will travel to take on Pearl River Friday night.

Vidalia making long trip for final non-district game

By Michael Kerekes (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Thursday, October 8, 2009

VIDALIA — Vidalia High School will have to deal with a formidable running back tandem when it travels to Slidell, La., to face Pearl River High School Friday.

“Their fullback, James Gillum, was the preseason pick for player of the year in the New Orleans area,” Vidalia head coach Dee Faircloth said.

“They’ve also got a halfback that weighs about 230 pounds. The funny thing about Gillum is, he’s the fullback, even though he only weights about 170 pounds. Their 230-pound halfback is their lead blocker, but he’s a (heck) of a runner who drags people down with him.”

Faircloth said Gillum is on a lot of colleges’ radars in terms of recruitment, and that he had about 170 yards in just one quarter in Pearl River’s game against Bogalousa High School last Friday.

“Their Achilles heel is their defense, apparently, because they lost that game 48-45,” Faircloth said.

For Vidalia, this game marks the last non-district game on the Vikings’ schedule.

“This was a case where we drew this week as an open date that we needed to find another team to play, and Pearl River was the only other team we could fill the slot with,” Faircloth said.

“After this, we go on to play our last four games against our district, which we have a chance to win.”

Helping those chances was last Thursday’s 6-3 win on the road against Buckeye. Faircloth said that win gave the Vikings players a shot of confidence.

“They were ready to go that game. This was a game in which they really competed. We held them inside our 20 five times, and gave up only three points.

“I told them after the game that they finally looked like the old Vidalia Vikings — just going out and busting people’s tails. That game made me feel a lot better.”

Something else that has Faircloth feeling better is an extra win being added to the Vikings win-loss column.

“We’re 2-3 now,” Faircloth said. “Block had to forfeit their game against us due to them playing an ineligible player.”

In talking about what it will take to stop Pearl River’s running back tandem Friday, Faircloth said gang tackling would be critical for Vidalia.

“It may take the whole team (to bring them down). Our guys better not be staring at the paint drying. They need to go help their teammates.”

On offense, Faircloth said he would like to see his line do a better job in pass protection.

“We’re going to have to protect the quarterback better than we did last week. We probably could have beaten Buckeye by several touchdowns if had any time to throw the ball.”

Faircloth said he hopes the defense Pearl River runs will help in that regard.

“They’re more a read-and-react defense than a blitzing defense,” Faircloth said.

“Of course, the Vikings seem to bring out the best in the teams we play. It must be the horns on the helmets that tick everybody off.”