The Vicksburg Gators’ season of struggle continued Friday.

Yazoo City running back Desmond Johnson scored on a short run with 1:28 remaining, and then again for the go-ahead two-point conversion to hand Vicksburg an 8-7 loss.

Vicksburg (0-5) remained winless going into next week’s open date and the start of Region 2-6A play after that. Three of its five losses have been by one score, and two of those came after giving up go-ahead touchdowns late in the fourth quarter.

The Gators will play at home vs. Neshoba Central on Oct. 11.

“It’s tough. You hate losing, especially winnable games,” Vicksburg coach Christopher Lacey said. “The game was winnable. We made too many mistakes and it led to us ultimately losing.”

The Gators took a 7-0 lead on a short touchdown run by Cedrick Blackmore in the first half, and held it until the final moments of the game.

The Gators committed three penalties that extended Yazoo City’s final drive, and then couldn’t move the football when they got it for their own chance to pull out the victory.

“In clutch situations we made absolutely too many mistakes — false starts, holding penalties, personal fouls,” Lacey said. “Penalties hurt us in clutch moments. It led to their success and ripped away a lot of our positives, too.”