FERRIDAY &8212; One of the surprises early this season has been the play of the Ferriday football team, which coming into this season had a number of question marks both offensively and defensively.

In last week&8217;s 45-6 win over Mangham, coach McFarland and his staff had several of those questions answered.

The biggest question heading into this season was if quarterback Kendric Harris would be able to pick up the slack that came about with the departure of star quarterback Terrance Johnson.

&8220;Kendric has been playing well for us,&8221; McFarland said. &8220;Our coaching staff has done a good job putting him in position to make those plays. He has been able to get things done with his feet and his arm and those two dimensions give us a lot to work with.&8221;

Before the season started one of McFarland&8217;s biggest worries was how well his defense would play, as there were several holes left by the departure of last year&8217;s senior class.

&8220;Defensively it has been a total team effort,&8221; McFarland said. &8220;We haven&8217;t had one guy step up and make all the tackles, we have 11 guys who are getting top the ball and making tackles.&8221;

This week the Trojans (1-0) will play at home versus Block (0-1), who is coming off of a loss to Vidalia last week.

Block possesses some of the fastest players in the skill positions the Miss-Lou has to offer, but has been hindered by injuries in recent weeks.

&8220;They&8217;ve got some speed, but we have a little ourselves,&8221; McFarland said. &8220;Hopefully, we can utilize a little of that, and spread the field on these guys.&8221;

Vidalia at University Lab

The Vidalia Vikings can&8217;t stay satisfied with their opening-game win over Block for long, as they now must travel to the state capital to face off with University Lab Friday night.

Head coach Dee Faircloth said the Vikings would have their hands full.

&8220;They&8217;re a pretty good ball club,&8221; Faircloth said. &8220;They always have a good team, and they probably always will. They lost some pretty good seniors from last year&8217;s bunch, but they&8217;ve got some good ones this year, too.

&8220;It&8217;s going to be tough running the football on them, and I&8217;m real worried about my defensive backs. They throw the ball. It&8217;s going to be bombs away.&8221;

University Lab (0-1), fell to Dunham last Friday.

Faircloth said he only hoped Vidalia (1-0) didn&8217;t repeat last year&8217;s first half performance.

&8220;Last year we self-destructed in the first half,&8221; he said. &8220;We had a punt blocked, we fumbled &8212; we did everything to lose that game. We came back in the second half though. I think we threw for nearly 300 yards last year.&8221;

Facing an opponent which is likely far more athletic than they are, Faircloth said the Vikings would likely simply run Demack Bates and hope for the best.

&8220;Demack Bates is the biggest advantage we have that I see,&8221; he said. &8220;Our philosophy is going to be running him at them and controlling the clock.&8221;