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VIDALIA, La. — Last Friday night, the Vidalia High School Vikings finally got their first win of the 2024 season in dramatic fashion by defeating the Block High School Bears on the road 35-34 in double overtime.

Now LHSAA Class 3A Vidalia (1-2) will step up in competition this Friday night when the Vikings travel to Dry Prong, La. to take on the Class 4A Grant High School Cougars in what is also the end of Vidalia’s three-game road trip. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Grant fell to 1-2 overall after losing at home to Class 2A and still-undefeated D’Arbonne Woods School 52-30.

In last week’s win over Block, Vidalia head coach Josh West said his team had to fight through a myriad of adversities, including injuries, penalties that backed them up, and a change at quarterback. He added that it “felt great” to get win number one this season.

“I was crying on the field. We lost four players due to injuries. We had put some players in positions they normally don’t play. We had to play some young guys in different positions,” West said. “We had some calls that moved up back. The energy and the effort they gave was unwavering.”

And perhaps the biggest change he had to make was putting in his nephew, junior Michael Randall Jr., in at quarterback for fellow junior Elmari “Juice” Lewis. Randall Jr. completed two of five passes for 80 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also had 20 carries for 240 yards and a rushing TD in overtime.

West even gave credit to Block head coach and Natchez native Samel Washington, whom West said graduated from Natchez High School. West added that Washington is a good football coach and that he will get the Bears back where they once were.

He then gave a shout out to sophomore defensive end/linebacker Tyler Brixey, who had 10 tackles and one sack.

“Hopefully he can do that again. Our numbers are down and we’re a young team. We’re trying to find our identity. We’re picking up stride and dictating what we want to do offensively and defensively,” West said.

West said that he was most pleased with his team’s resiliency and that they players never quit. As for what needs to be fixed that the Vikings are working on in practice this week, he said, “This week we’ve worked on tackling. We didn’t tackle well. There’s a difference between tackling and hitting. We’re working on blocking the defensive line. We’re working on our depth. When you have injuries or cramping, players come in that are not expected to come in. When a running back fumbles the ball, we have to adjust there. We fumbled the ball twice.”

When asked what concerns him the most about Grant on each side of the ball, West said, “They have pretty good size and they have a good running back. Defensively, they like to send a lot of pressure. They like to blitz. We can throw the ball at them, but we still want to dictate what we do by running the ball. We want to control the clock.”

So does Grant, which West said runs a power scheme offense with different formations as well as a defense Vidalia is not used to facing.

“They run I-formation. They run a little spread. They want to run downhill. They want to play power football. Defensively, they run a 3-front that looks like a 5-front. They have overhands over our side. We have to adjust to their overhangs and not be able to sit where they sit. When they cut up front, they’re trying to create match-ups with their linebackers and our backs. Which is going to be a new challenge. Our lineman will have to adjust to being cut at the line of scrimmage. Trying to eliminate our linemen and get 1-on-1 match-ups with our backs in the running game.”

For the Vikings to come out victorious on the road Friday night, West said that Lewis will have to play to his standard. He also said that sophomore running back/wideout/defensive back will need to step up and make plays.

As for Brixey, West said, “We need Tyler to continue to rack up tackles and be a factor on the defensive side of the ball. He’ll be our “mike” linebacker and play in the middle of the field this Friday night.