Clarksdale was within 10 yards of winning the Class 4A state championship last December at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

A late interception at the goal line prevented the Wildcats from scoring a go-ahead touchdown and preserved Wayne County’s victory.

With 15 returning starters, Clarksdale is the favorite to get back to Jackson to the 4A final with designs on winning it. To get there, coach Jim Hughes’ team will have to get by a tough first two weeks of the 2007 season.

Hughes agreed to have his second-ranked team come to Vicksburg and play in the annual Red Carpet Bowl. The Wildcats, 13-2 last season, will face Vicksburg High on Friday at Viking Stadium. The next week, Clarksdale faces four-time, Class 5A champ South Panola in the two schools’ annual northwest Mississippi grudge match.

&#8220Our kids are excited about the opening two games. We know the Red Carpet Bowl is a prestigious event and we’re going to play a very talented Vicksburg team that has a lot of great athletes all over the field. We can’t look ahead to Panola,” Hughes said.

Hughes added that he, his staff and several of the Wildcat players will attend Thursday night’s game between South Panola and Warren Central also at Viking Stadium.

&#8220I was wondering how they were going to work out the two games with the crowds involved. While I can understand going to two days, a lot of our fans like to see South Panola. They are pretty big fans of theirs, at least until they play us,” Hughes said.

This Clarksdale team has as much returning talent as South Panola does. Six of the Wildcat starters could be considered major college prospects.

Quarterback Brandon Williams leads the group. He completed 78 of 162 passes for 1,091 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. He has two top targets back in Nate Hampton and Carver Gregory.

Clarksdale is one of the more balanced teams in the state as well. They have a top running back in Charles Mitchell, who gained 1,151 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

The lead blocker is fullback Tim Jackson, who is considered to be the Wildcats’ best player on defense as a linebacker.

Jackson pairs up with returning starter Larry Brownlee to form an impressive linebacking duo. Mitchell and Williams key the secondary.

&#8220We’ve still got things we need to get done. I’m glad we still have time to work on them,” Hughes said last week. &#8220Our kids know they have a bullseye on them.”