Marcus Rogers isn’t looking back. He’s ready to move forward.

The Vicksburg High School football coach is getting his team prepared to visit Holmes County Central Friday night in the last game of the regular season after last week’s difficult loss to Grenada in double overtime.

“The loss was tough, but we put that behind us. We’re ready to move forward,” Rogers said. “They’ve been motivated all week to get back in the win column and get ready for the playoffs.”

The stakes aren’t as high as they could be for Vicksburg (8-3, 4-2 Region 2-5A) since it is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, but the Gators aren’t taking it easy this week. A victory is still important, not just in the standings but for what it will do for the team’s confidence.

“Losing is not an option,” Rogers said. “Just getting back in the win column is a thing we need to do to regain confidence … It’s very important for our mental psyche. You want to get in rhythm. You always want to go into the playoffs on a winning streak.”

A win Friday will give the Gators a third-place finish in Region 2-5A and send them to either Oxford or Lake Cormorant for the first round of the Class 5A playoffs next week.

A loss will put the team in the No. 4 position, and pit them against Region 1-5A champion West Point (9-1) — which is also the top-ranked team in Class 5A in this week’s Associated Press poll.

Holmes County Central (5-5, 3-3) needs to win to make the playoffs, and Rogers knows playing a road game against a team with something to lose won’t be easy.

“They are going to sell out and they are going to do whatever they’ve got to do to try to get a win. So both of us have something at stake,” Rogers said.

Even with an average record, Holmes County Central has some big wins under its belt. It handed first-place Germantown its only loss in region play, but has stumbled with consecutive losses to Grenada and Ridgeland heading into this game.

“Homes County is the only team that beat Germantown, and right now Germantown is the team that’s in first place. Athlete for athlete they can match us,” Rogers said. “They’ve got a lot of speed on the field. They have great sized kids. They present a challenge.”

Last year, Holmes County Central sparked a major comeback against Vicksburg by scoring 20 straight points to take a 20-17 lead. The Gators then hit their stride and responded with 20 unanswered points of their own to win 37-20 and secure a playoff berth.

Rogers said the Gators have been working on their game plan this week and taking less hits in practice to give players a chance to heal from injury. Right now he is working more on the mental side of the game with his team.

“When you’re in Week 12, you don’t have to go out and hit each other during the week so we’ve been toning down on that with a lot more treatments, a lot more mental work watching film, just making sure the game plan is in and making sure the kids can execute it at a high level,” Rogers said.

The physical game with Grenada left Vicksburg battered and bruised. Some of the injured players include Elmer Johnson with a torn ACL, Nick Anderson with hip and back injuries, and Malik Shelley with an ankle injury.

“After playing a game like with Grenada, a lot of kids got banged up. It was a 12 round fight, and I knew it going into it and the kids knew it. We got a couple kids down, but I’m just trying to get their health back together,” Rogers said. “Nobody in Week 12 is 100 percent healthy. We’ve been preaching to them they’ve got to play with pain. That’s just the nature of football.”

Rogers said the Gators aren’t lingering on last week’s tough loss.

“We played a good game the other night,” Rogers said. “I don’t believe in moral victories, but at the end of the day that was a great ballgame against a great team. Somebody had to lose. We hate we came up on the short end of the stick, but at the end of the day going into the playoffs we want to get into some type of rhythm.”

FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES

All games start at 7 p.m.

Vicksburg at Holmes County Central (Radio: 1490 AM/107.7 FM)

Callaway at Warren Central (Radio: 105.5 FM)

Humphreys Academy at Tallulah Academy

Starkville at Clinton

Carroll (La.) at Madison Parish