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VIDALIA, La. — A playoff berth is at stake for the Vidalia High School Vikings when they play host to the winless Caldwell Parish High School Spartans for Senior Night at Dee Faircloth Viking Stadium this Friday night.

Kickoff between Caldwell Parish (0-9, 0-4) and Vidalia (2-7, 0-4) is slated for 7 p.m. The Spartans fell at home to Jena High School 50-14 last Friday night while the Vikings lost at Bunkie High School 54-6 last Friday night.

The last time these two teams met as district opponents was 10 years ago — Oct. 31, 2014 to be exact when Caldwell Parish and Vidalia were in District 3-3A. The Spartans won that game 44-24.

Prior to kickoff, seven seniors on the football team will be recognized, Vikings head coach Josh West said. Hopefully, Vidalia will be able to end the regular season on a winning note and keep its season going

“Right now we hold the No. 28 spot (in the Non-Select Division IV power ratings). Twenty-eight teams get in. We need to win to stay in the hunt and potentially move up and avoid the big teams,” West said. “I assume that points matter. We’re in playoff mode – win or go home. We have to win to solidify our playoff spot.”

It’s been a bumpy ride for Vidalia in its return to Class 3A for the first time in nearly a decade. But a win over Caldwell Parish would ease things a little bit. As for what the Vikings are working on in practice to get ready for the Spartans, West said, “Practice has been interesting. We haven’t had school the past two days. Monday we just watched film wit the group that came in. Tuesday we worked on defending the dive and the pitch. Just working on rules on making sure they know their responsibilities. Caldwell Parish, their players believe in what they’re doing. They run an I-formation. They play big boy football.”

While the Spartans are having a down season by their standards, there are some things about them on each side of the ball that do concern coach West.

“On offense, the belief in what they do. They have good size up front on both sides. The strength of their offense is the weakness of our defense, which is running up the middle. We have to have a great effort in stopping the run and making them one-dimensional,” West said. “Defensively, they come off the ball well. They have nice size up front. We have to be consistent in our efforts to run the ball and not get one-dimensional ourselves. Be able to attack the edges and be creating in our motions and formations for us to be successful.”

As for what kind of offense and defense Caldwell Parish runs, West said, “Offensively, they run the I-formation. They run traditional pro-style I-formation. Defensively, they run multiple. They want to play cover-3. They’re not aggressive, but it’s not too fancy. Three-front with a cover-3.”

When asked who needs to step up for the Vikings to send end their regular season and send their seniors out on a winning note, West said, “The offensive line. We had a rough night last Friday night against the best team in our district. They have to bounce back this week so we can run our offense. The linebackers on defense – Logan Cater and Tyson Davis.”