By Matt Sigler

The Natchez Democrat

Ferriday — When Ferriday and Vidalia face off Friday, many will view it as a neighboring town rivalry.

But Vidalia head coach Jeff Hancock won’t.

“Apparently Ferriday has been a rival of Vidalia for years and years, but for it to be a rivalry it has to go back and forth,” Hancock said. “It can’t be lopsided. I told our guys it’s not a rivalry until we start beating those guys and making it competitive, which is going to happen this week.”

The Vikings (0-2) are coming off a 29-12 loss to Delhi Charter, while the Trojans (1-1) enter the game off a 28-26 double overtime win against Block.

Carrying the load for Ferriday will be running back Dontrell Domino, who is thrashing opponents this season, racking up 295 yards and six touchdowns through two games.

“Dontrell needs to keep performing at the level he is right now,” Ferriday head coach Cleothis Cummings said. “We’ve got good offensive linemen and everyone would be successful behind that.”

Domino has also caught the eye of Hancock.

“I don’t know if you can stop him, but you can try and slow him down,” Hancock said. “He is a Division I running back. If I was still coaching college, I would probably be recruiting that kid right now.”

The two teams are familiar with each other, with Ferriday taking the win last season 40-0. But Cummings is seeing a new Vidalia team this year.

“They are a familiar opponent and we’ve been playing them several years now, but this year’s team is a little different,” he said. “They look pretty good with what they are working on, and we’re just going to go out and try to stop what they are doing.”

There is also mutual respect from the Vidalia side.

“They’re very athletic,” Hancock said of Ferriday. “They like to run the ball at you, play-action you, then take shots with their two really good skill kids at receiver. Defensively they like to line everyone up in the box, and they are going to dare us to try and run the football.”

A win is crucial for both teams in this game, but the two coaches are viewing it differently.

“Everybody wants to start with a winning number,” Cummings said. “We’re just trying to get better week-by-week.”

Hancock, however, simply put it as, “we would be 1-2.”