Vidalia High jumped up from No. 7 to No. 5 in Class AA after beating previously-fifth-ranked Loyola Prep of Shreveport, La., 35-0 last Friday.

The last time the Vikings were ranked that high was in 1985 when Vidalia was the preseason No. 1 team in Class 2A.

&uot;It’s been a long time,&uot;&160;said Vidalia coach Dee Faircloth. &uot;We started off first in 1985 and then went to 106 before we started climbing back up. We lost our first three games and you have to look in the classified part of the paper to find us.&uot;

Vidalia advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Homer that season.

The Vikings are currently 7-1, with its only loss coming to Winnsboro early in the season.

&uot;I can’t remember being ranked this high at this stage,&uot; Faircloth said. &uot;If you lose that first game you usually disappear forever. And we’ve always had a tough schedule and would lose to Franklin County right off. This does the kids a lot of good.&uot;

Riverside is ranked No. 1 at 8-0, while unbeaten Iota is second.

Once-beaten Port Barre is third, while West St. John (6-2) is one spot above the Vikings.

Many and Welsh are sixth and seventh, while Springfield, Loyola and Farmerville round out the top 10.

The high rankings may be more important this year with a new power point system being used to seed playoff teams.

Even if a team wins its district this year, it is not guaranteed a first-round home game.

&uot;Right now we’re No. 8, but a loss could drop us to No. 16.

Vidalia plays at Crowville this Friday before hosting Ferriday Nov. 6 in a contest that should be for the District 3-2A championship.

&uot;You really need that first game at home in the playoffs,&uot; Faircloth said. &uot;But we’ve still got a tough way to go to get that.&uot;