I’ll admit it. I’m not a fan of phone calls from parents who say his or her child isn’t getting the credit he or she deserves in the paper, but I’ve grown to tolerate them.

The worst? The calls when we’re making a mad dash for deadline late on Friday nights while getting everyone’s scores and reports in the paper when the calls come in like this:

&uot;Did (insert team name here) win?&uot;

But I’m tolerating those calls, too, as of Friday night.

Not many people who called us Friday night could believe Natchez High beat Vicksburg. We’ve never had that many calls asking about a score, so that leads us to believe the few folks there went home with the good news and were met with more skepticism than if the Saints won the Super Bowl.

But it did happen.

The Bulldogs blocked and tackled well, minimized their turnovers and didn’t get down after a mistake to knock off the 19th-ranked Vicksburg Gators, 14-12, for their first win in 14 games and second in 25 games. The win was also their first win in at least three seasons.

&uot;It feels good to get a win because I felt we had the team this year, and this year our fans believed in us,&uot; receiver Keddrieck Gibbons said. &uot;This is the year we’ll go out because we’ll stick together. We believe in ourselves.&uot;

There is not a team in the Miss-Lou &045; or in the entire state, for that matter &045; who needed a win more than the Bulldogs. As the losses mounted, the support faded and skepticism grew in a program that hasn’t had a productive season since the 1998 season when the Bulldogs reached the South State final.

And in a city where the old North Natchez and South Natchez high schools were two of the more successful in the state, the Bulldogs’ 0-11 campaign a season ago was believed to be the first winless season by a Natchez public school.

And in the irony department, a source mentioned to us Tuesday members of the school’s booster club were to meet with head coach James Denson and ask for his resignation.

No one would go on record to verify it, but needless to say any such meeting will be plenty more positive this week.

&uot;Coach has been constantly preaching about working hard and coming through,&uot; said defensive tackle Anthony Strauder, who is on recruiting lists of some Southeastern Conference schools. &uot;The seniors came through, and the young guys stepped up, too. Hopefully this win will get us over the hump going into the Warren Central game next week.&uot;

Much of the credit can be put on the effort of the offensive line, who held up and allowed the offense room to operate. It’s a unit that’s been the Achilles heel dating back to the start of last season, forcing quarterbacks to get rid of it quick and running backs to fight off blockers right after touching the ball.

&uot;It’s a big win for us, period,&uot; Denson said. &uot;It shows them what we’ve been talking about for two years. It’s what we’ve been trying to get them to do and work as a team. It could give them the incentive to put in their minds that if we can play with these people, we can play with anybody.&uot;

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3632 or by e-mail at adam.daigle@

natchezdemocrat.com.