The Vicksburg Gators have waited a year for the opportunity to avenge a heartbreaking loss to Murrah.

They’ve waited three years for the bigger opportunity that’s in front of them.

Vicksburg is one of five teams tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in Region 2-6A, and can claim it by winning its last three games. That gauntlet begins Friday night in Jackson, against a Murrah team that scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Gators 38-37 last season.

“Right now it’s pretty much do or die. It’s time to step up and play good football,” said Vicksburg quarterback Cameron Cooksey, who is second in the state with 2,525 passing yards and tied for first with 30 touchdown passes.

Murrah has been, without a doubt, the biggest surprise of the season in Class 6A. The perennially downtrodden program won only one game last season — its shocking victory over Vicksburg — and hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1993.