[12/30/02]Brandi Head said from the start of her short football career that she just wanted to be treated like one of the guys.

She dressed and showered in a different locker room, but that was about all she did differently than the boys.

Always accepted and respected by her teammates and her coaches, Head made history as the first girl football player in Mississippi to score a point in a game and it almost didn’t happen.

With Vicksburg beating Brookhaven handily, special teams coach Kevin Manton called for Head to kick an extra point. Manton, also Head’s soccer coach, watched his soccer star line up and prepare for the snap.

Like usual, the Gators lined up left of the center in what has now become the norm for many teams. The thinking is to try to catch the opponents napping and sneak a 2-point conversion into the end zone.

Fullback Phelan Gray saw something in the Brookhaven defense and called a 2-point conversion audible.

It failed.

As the snapper came off the field, Manton launched into a verbal tirade that went something like this: “I don’t care if every one of their guys is lined up over you, you snap the (family newspaper) ball.”

When the Gators scored again, Head made history with her kick that sailed straight through the uprights.

It was football history that she made that night, but as part of the Missy Gators’ soccer team, Head helped secure the school’s fifth state championship in seven years.

It was championships the division, North and South State and state that made this year of local athletics a resounding success.

The St. Aloysius Flashes captured the baseball spirit with its run to the state championship, where it lost to Myrtle in two games.

Warren Central’s baseball team was ousted in the second round by Tupelo in its bid to repeat as Class 5A state champions, but two more of its players will be playing SEC baseball.

Brian Pettway, the best hitter this county has seen in years, and teammate John Morgan Mims are at Ole Miss. Pettway will see playing time, just not knowing at what position. The likelihood of Mims playing is slim.

The two will be joined by Vicksburg High shortstop Justin Henry, who is giving up a possible football career for the baseball diamond.

The Flashes’ soccer team reached the North State championshsip and came within several minutes of winning the school’s first state title.

The season also marked the end of St. Al soccer coach Shirley Agostinelli’s career. She left a championship-caliber team after more than 20 years of service to the school. Agostinelli was fiery on the sidelines, but respected statewide and her retirement has been felt all over the soccer community.

On the football field, Vicksburg entered the season as the consensus No. 1 team in the state, but early losses to Wayne County and South Pike ended the ranking early. Warren Central, as it has in the past with no superstars, filled in nicely by winning its first eight games, then beating Starkville to advance to the second round of the state playoffs.

The Vikings proved, like they normally do, that you can never count out a gritty, scrappy group of athletes after a common goal.

That exemplifies athletics in this area and it will continue to.

Don’t be shocked to see more championship celebrations in the year to come.

Happy New Year.