Life as an insomniac is getting a little hallucinating.

I’ve now accepted that at around four and five every morning inanimate objects will start telling me their life stories. It’s about time for a cup of coffee anyway. What better way to share than with a leather couch and ottoman.

These adventures have gotten so muddled that apparently I missed the Vidalia-West St. John game.

According to prep football message boards across the state the game, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. today, was over before the semifinal week even started.

It appears that tonight’s showdown is a formality for West St. John to caravan 30 miles east to Sugar Bowl Drive, the site of the Louisiana Superdome and the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s state championships.

&uot;We know what we’re capable of doing,&uot; Viking quarterback Tony Hawkins said. &uot;Other people can say what they want to. It really doesn’t matter.&uot;

You gotta love the moxie of these kids. Except for maybe the bi-district round against Livonia, Vidalia has been counted out of its other two playoff games before it stepped foot on the field, despite being the higher seed.

Now, the No. 3 Vikings are considered the underdog against the higher-seeded Rams (No. 2). Vidalia head coach Dee Faircloth has dubbed West St. John &uot;LSU’s JV&uot; in reference to the revolving door of Division-I coaches passing through Ram head coach Laury Dupont’s door.

Two of his players, lineman Tyson Jackson (6-7, 270) and fullback Quinn Johnson are actual commitments of Nick Saban’s.

&uot;They’ve got players just like us that if you hit them hard enough they’ll fall to the ground,&uot; Vidalia lineman Matt Hinson said. &uot;The trick is getting back up when they knock you down.&uot;

If you ask me, I get the sneaking suspicion this plays perfectly into Faircloth, his staff and his players’ hands. I remember back after the 50-7 win over Livonia, fullback Chris Williams saying the Vikings wanted to make it to the Dome under a heavily disguised veil.

&uot;You can’t overlook anybody that is left, especially when it comes to double-A,&uot; said Dupont, who returns to school for the first time all week after being hospitalized with the intestinal flu. &uot;All four teams that are still alive are exceptional teams. With as much history between these two schools (Vidalia and West St. John), it’s amazing we’ve never crossed paths before.&uot;

The Rams’ bread and butter on defense is stopping the run, holding their first round prey and Vidalia intra-parish rival Ferriday to negative 25 yards rushing.

Everybody knows Faircloth isn’t seeing straight if his backs don’t touch the ball more than 30 times a game.

Something has to give.

&uot;We’re hitting on all cylinders on both sides of the ball, but so is Vidalia,&uot; Dupont said. &uot;It’ll be interesting to see who’s going to crack. I hope the fans understand somebody is going home and it’s not because they aren’t a good football team.&uot;

For me I’ve got the Vikes 31-28 thanks to ol’ Jeffrey Anderson’s foot.

And that’s not my furniture putting its two cents in.

Chuck Corder

is a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3633 or by e-mail at

chuck.corder@natchezdemocrat.com.