primed for slugfest in ‘The Swamp’|WARREN CENTRAL (1-0) AT VICKSBURG (0-1)Tonight, 7:30 p.m., at Memorial Stadium • On the radio: 1490 AM

“Gustav” has become a four-letter word for coaches at Vicksburg and Warren Central.

The hurricane left Warren County largely unscathed this week, but wreaked havoc on the practice schedules of both teams as they prepared for tonight’s annual grudge match at Memorial Stadium. Combined with what is sure to be a still soggy field, and normal early-season miscues, it has coaches wondering just how well their players will perform.

“You worry about conditioning and timing. What you can do in a gym setting is so limited,” WC coach Curtis Brewer said. “You lose the ability to run your pass offense as much. You’re not outside, you can’t run your blocking scheme. It’s been a real difficult week to get in a routine. If you went outside, you’d just be a sloppy mess right now.”

Both WC and Vicksburg had full practices on Monday, before the storm hit, but worked in the morning both to avoid the bad weather and because of the Labor Day holiday. Power outages closed school on Tuesday, and both teams worked inside with less than full rosters.

On Wednesday, a string of tornado warnings and the threat of more severe weather forced both teams to cancel practice altogether. They finally got back on the field Thursday, which is usually a light walkthrough day in a normal week.

“It’ll be a little heavier than normal, simply for the purpose of doing the things on the field that we need to do,” Vicksburg coach Alonzo Stevens said of Thursday’s practice. “You’ve got to try and adjust. When you get out of your routine, it’s never good. We’ve just got to adjust and deal with the distractions. Everybody is trying to be safe and we’ve got to realize that.”

The lack of practice time is just one reason tonight’s game may be one of the sloppiest in the 28-year history of the Vicksburg-Warren Central rivalry. The huge amounts of rain that fell on Vicksburg early in the week have left the field at Memorial Stadium a soggy mess. Normal early-season miscues could also play a factor in turning the game into a turnover-filled affair.

That type of game would seem to favor Warren Central. With bruising tailback Joel Forbes, the Vikings are well-suited to grind out yards, control the clock and play a low-scoring game. Forbes ran for 116 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries in last week’s 21-12 win over Clarksdale in the season opener.

The Vikings did take a hit, however, when offensive lineman Jonathan Chaney suffered a knee injury against Clarksdale. He is not expected to play against Vicksburg.

“I think it’ll be more of a defensive game. We’ve got to run the ball. Give it to Joel (Forbes) and let him go,” Warren Central quarterback Keaton Sanders said. “If we hold on to the ball, we’ll win.”

Vicksburg struggled to run the ball in a season-opening, 27-6 loss to five-time defending Class 5A champion South Panola. Other than a 45-yard touchdown run by Malcolm Butler on a reverse, the Gators ran for just 50 yards on 21 carries as a team.

More troubling was the four turnovers — three on fumbles — that the Gators had. Throwing in the likelihood of a wet football and poor footing this week, and minimizing the mistakes has been a priority, Stevens said.

“It’s not going to be an ideal situation. It’s going to be wet on both sides. It’s going to prepare us for a game you might get into in the playoffs, where it’s wet on both sides,” Stevens said. “We have harped on it all week. We tried hard to minimize (mistakes) and work on it, but not like we would have liked.”

Even though Vicksburg did not play well offensively last week, Brewer said their speed and experience still makes them a dangerous squad.

“Vicksburg is a very difficult team to scheme yourself against, with the amount of speed they have on the field, the way they attack you and the mobility of the quarterback,” Brewer said. “What Panola has is an outstanding defensive line and we don’t rank with their defensive line. The things they did, I don’t know if our personnel is going to allow us to do that.”

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