VIDALIA — After a frustrating loss to Marksville High School last week, Vidalia High School’s final home game of the season doesn’t look to be any easier.

The Vikings (0-7) will host Avoyelles High School at 7 Friday night, and head coach Gary Parnham said the Mustangs will bring a strong running attack to the field.

“They’re 7-0 in the year, leading in district, so once again we have a tough opponent coming in here,” Parnham said.

“They run the Double Wing that we’ve seen several times already, so there’s some familiarity there. But, they have a tailback who’s a big kid and really fast, so he’ll be tough to handle. Then they’ll come back with the trap, so we’ve got our hands full again.”

Parnham said the Double Wing offense has a tendency to fool the defenses it goes against.

“A lot of it is the misdirection in it,” Parnham said. “At times, they’ve put more blockers at the point of attack than you have defensive players.

“You have to be disciplined when you play it. You have to be able to stay home on the backside, and it’s hard to get high school kids to be able to buy into that, planting your feet and staying there because it’s coming to you, and then taking on blocks and being strong.”

But the more his players see, the more Parnham feels they’ll begin to understand the wisdom in what the coaches are trying to teach them, Parnham said.

“With us being as inexperienced and young as we are, it takes us a little bit longer and a little more time for these kids to buy into the situation,” Parnham said.

“They know what’s coming, they probably could tell you right now when they line up in a formation where the ball is going to come, it’s just a matter of doing what they’re taught to do and having the discipline to stay there and do that.”

Ferriday High School

The Trojans (3-4, 1-1) are also playing a lot of young players, and they will likely do so again Friday night when Ferriday hosts Lake Providence.

In last week’s loss to Homer High School, Ferriday played seven freshmen on defense, head coach Richard Oliver said.

“This week presents a big challenge,” Oliver said. “(Lake Providence’s) quarterback stands out a lot. He can run and throw extremely well. They have a pretty good team.

“We have some kids banged up, so we’ve kind of had to throw some of the young kids into the fire. It looks like we’ll have to do the same thing again.”

But Oliver said those same players will be getting valuable experience that will help the program in the long term.

“If we can make it through this first year, we’re going to be all right the next couple of years,” Oliver said.

“We’re getting better. We always see improvement. We’re still playing some different kids at difference positions, so it’s a day-by-day thing.”

Kickoff at Ferriday is at 7 p.m. Friday.