When it comes to quarterback Joe Johnson and wide receiver Raheem Moore it’s best to just stand back and watch them do what they do best: put up yards and challenge records.

The Gators (8-2, 4-1 Region 2-5A) clinched a playoff berth with last week’s 34-26 win over Canton, and their quarterback-receiver combination is leading the way. Johnson has thrown for 2,284 yards and 23 touchdowns. Moore has a team-high 55 receptions for 844 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Both players are in position to challenge Warren County records set five years ago by another prolific VHS passing combination, Cameron Cooksey and A.J. Stamps.

“We remind each other about it every day. We’re always talking about it,” Johnson said of both players’ outstanding statistics. “We just come out and play hard and let the records and stuff take care of itself. We keep on balling and it’ll pay off.”

In the four-game winning streak the Gators are currently on, Johnson has thrown for 1,124 yards and 11 touchdowns. While Johnson has rushed for four touchdowns this season, he said throwing is definitely his preferred way to gain yardage.

“I really just like throwing to No. 4,” Johnson said slyly.

Moore has had at least one touchdown in the last eight games, and he had at least two touchdowns in three games this season. He’s closing in on the Warren County single-season records for receiving yards (1,289) and touchdowns (19) set by Stamps in 2011.

Moore is also third on the county’s career list for receiving TDs, with 20 heading into Friday’s game against Grenada (7-2, 4-1) at Memorial Stadium. He’s only the third player in nearly 100 years of high school football in Warren County to have at least 20 touchdown receptions, along with Stamps and former Porters Chapel Academy star Cole Smith.

“I need five more touchdowns to break A.J. Stamps’ record, and I’m not going to stop until I get it,” Moore said.
Johnson is also on a record-setting pace. The Gators will likely have to go deep into the playoffs for Johnson to catch Cooksey for the single-season records of 3,245 passing yards and 38 touchdowns, but he still has another season to play after this one.

Johnson already has 39 career touchdown passes, and his next one will make him only the sixth player in county history to reach 40. He also needs just 81 more yards to become the fifth player with 4,000. If he can maintain the pace in his senior season, Cooksey’s career marks of 6,352 yards and 62 touchdowns seem well within reach.

Johnson said he and Moore keep up with every stat on a quest to break certain records and attain goals they have set for themselves.

“I’m not even going to lie to you, we know all our stats and we make sure we keep up with them trying to chase those records,” Johnson said.

Moore said their relationship all started last year when he caught a 23-yard pass from Johnson with 51 seconds left to lead the Gators to a thrilling 14-13 win over Harrison Central in the season-opening Red Carpet Bowl.

Moore was the Gators’ No. 2 receiver last year, finishing with 27 receptions for 381 yards and five touchdowns. He’s moved into the No. 1 role this year, and he and Johnson have thrived working together.

“It really got me on the map and got him on the map. So we just stayed together, kept clicking together, working after practice sometimes, picking each other up if we make a mistake and just being there for each other,” Moore said.

Johnson believes they approach the game similarly, which makes them click with each other a little more naturally.

“We just both have a type of swag, a type of attitude, toward each other,” Johnson said. “We’re competitive between each other but we still work together and that’s how we both get each other better.”

A shared hatred for losing and a determination to put in hard work and extra hours has bonded the duo to strive for the top.

“We want what’s best for each other. He bails me out sometimes. I bail him out sometimes. We just make plays for each other,” Moore said.

Moore set his personal goals at the beginning of the season to finish with 1,000 yards and to make an All-Star Game. One of those goals is already out of reach — he was passed over for both the Mississippi-Alabama and Bernard Blackwell Mississippi all-star games — which has pushed him harder to reach the other. He could get it this week.

“I didn’t make one (All-Star Game). So that put a chip on my shoulder to come out and prove I should have made one,” Moore said.

Johnson is looking to make sure the seniors have an extraordinary season and to change the culture of the program, all while adding on to his own stats and personal records. However, his main goal is to win the state championship.

Vicksburg is still in the running for that. The team made the playoffs after beating Canton last week, and can put itself in position to play its first home playoff game in eight years by beating Grenada this Friday.

Moore is excited to know the Gators will move into postseason play, but he said the team is still working to maintain its focus throughout the rest of the regular season.

“We can’t let up. We still got to play hard and take every game like its out last,” Moore said.