When a new season approaches, most football coaches try to take an optimistic approach and focus on the opportunity for a fresh start.

Vicksburg High’s Christopher Lacey is doing that, but he’s also made sure to point out a glaring negative.

Vicksburg has not won a Red Carpet Bowl game since 2016. It has scored a total of 26 points and been shut out four times during the six-game losing streak. That’s sticking in Lacey’s craw, and he very much wants to change it this week when the Gators face Holmes County Central.

“It’s super important. I’ve put a big emphasis on it the whole offseason,” Lacey said. “It’s an important game and we’re going to treat it like an important game, and just be prepared to go in there and do what we need to do.”

Vicksburg and Holmes County Central play Friday at 7:30 p.m., at Vicksburg’s Memorial Stadium. The game was originally scheduled to be the first half of a doubleheader across town at Warren Central, but the venue and time were changed because of concerns about excessive heat.

Lacey said the changes were “a blessing” for his team.

“It’s actually a blessing because it won’t be as hot. We’ll be able to start at a good time, be able to have a great preparation before the game, eat and let that digest, get kids off their feet and go out there and play football,” Lacey said. “Being able to play in your stadium is another plus. It’s more comfortable with the game day routine. Everything should line up pretty good.”

Home field advantage hasn’t necessarily been kind to the Gators when it comes to the Red Carpet Bowl. Three of their six losses during the current streak have been at Memorial Stadium.

The Gators have often faced a tough opponent in the game, but Lacey said their struggles flowed from their own missteps.

“I’ve looked at multiple Red Carpet Bowls we’ve played in to see the trend of what it is we need to fix and win the game,” Lacey said. “It’s moreso penalties and shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s never necessarily a match-up deal. It’s what we do our ownselves that kill us in the game that we need to fix. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the first game of the year, but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to be able to clean it up.”

Last week’s preseason scrimmage against Clinton should help with that task. The Gators lost 21-20 in the two-quarter game, but rallied from a 21-7 deficit to have a chance to win. Cedrick Blackmore scored on an 8-yard run on the final play, and then the Gators went for a two-point conversion and missed.

“If we kicked a (PAT) it’s a tie and we go home, so I said let’s start off with some excitement and let’s just go for the win,” Lacey said. “We moved the ball well the entire time. We had two penalties, we fumbled the ball and we threw an interception that killed two drives for us. That’s stuff that we’ll take care of.”

Holmes County Central was responsible for one of Vicksburg’s recent Red Carpet Bowl losses, a 25-0 victory last season. Holmes went on to finish 12-1, with its only loss coming in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Led by senior quarterback Garrison Davis, who passed for 2,508 yards and 28 touchdowns last season, the Jaguars should be a formidable foe.

Holmes is also a rival for Vicksburg. The teams have played nine years in a row — VHS leads the series 5-4 — and Holmes’ coach Marcus Rogers was Vicksburg’s head coach from 2014-16.

“We’ve played them in district games, playoff games, Red Carpet Bowl, we’re familiar with the coach, so it’s nothing new to us,” Lacey said. “It’s almost like a new rivalry with us playing Holmes. There’s a little animosity and energy because their coach used to coach here. He’s got connections in the city, people that he loves and who love him in the city, former players from here, there’s always going to be a connection.”

FRIDAY’S GAMES
MAIS regular season – Games at 7 p.m.
Prentiss Christian at PCA (Radio: 104.4 FM)
Cathedral at St. Aloysius (Radio: 101.3 FM)
Tallulah Academy at Franklin Academy
Red Carpet Bowl – Games at 7:30 p.m.
Holmes County Central at Vicksburg (Radio: 107.7 FM)
Clinton at Warren Central (Radio: 105.5 FM)
• Red Carpet Bowl tickets are $10 and are available through GoFan.co