There’s a huge filing cabinet in the back corner of our newsroom that’s full of ghosts.

Not the scary kind. The good kind. The ones that jump out from faded photos while sporting funny 1970s era haircuts, neck rolls and jerseys that inexplicably end at the belly button.

These ghosts live in a drawer full of old Red Carpet Bowl programs and football preview issues. Their earthly forms have grown older and moved on with their lives, but in that drawer they stay forever young, laughing and sharing the best of times.

Sometimes, when I open the drawers to do research for one story, the ghosts pull me in and tell me another. Some stories I know. Some I’m hearing for the first time. Some I’ve lived, and some I’ve even told.

All of the stories weave a fascinating tapestry of the history of football in Vicksburg, from the start of the Red Carpet Bowl in 1962 to last year’s memorable playoff run by St. Aloysius.

There’s familiar last names, like Ray, Stamps and Morgan, that echo across generations and write a new chapter every few years. Others, like Christmas and Smith, are still working on their stories.

There’s familiar themes. In August, every team — even the ones with five freshmen offensive linemen who weigh 150 pounds apiece — believes it’s gearing up for a state championship run. Many times, the following season’s preview issue reveals how last year’s seniors didn’t provide enough leadership during a 2-9 season and this year’s upperclassmen vow to turn things around.

Next week, when our latest football preview issue hits the paper, a new batch of ghosts will join their predecessors. Time will tell what sorts of stories they have to tell when the filing cabinet is cracked open 10 years from now, but they’ll certainly tell them with a little more flair.

For 37 years The Vicksburg Post’s football preview has been published on newsprint. This year, for the first time, we’re putting it out in a sturdier magazine format.

For fans, it’ll last longer — we hope all season — and provide an easier to read guide to local teams. It’s also allowing us to spice things up a bit.

Over the years, the cover of the preview issue has often tried to feature all four of our local high schools on the cover. It’s led to some admittedly cheesy themes, like the one from the 1980s set in front of a movie theater.

We’re once again featuring all four teams on the cover this year, but with a twist. Like national magazines that do different covers for each college conference, the 2014 Vicksburg Post preview issue will have four different covers — one each for Warren Central, Vicksburg, Porters Chapel and St. Aloysius.

The different covers will be randomly inserted into the paper, so keep an eye out for your favorite team.

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Ernest Bowker is a reporter and can be reached by email at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-619-7120.