Vidalia — The Vidalia High School defense must come full circle — and quickly.

Head coach Gary Parnham Jr. said just as they get one aspect of their game together, the other one seems to go cold.

But with four games left, the Vikings (2-4) have just enough time to put a stop to their four-game losing streak, starting with Marksville High School Friday.

As Parnham focused on strengthening his offensive line earlier this season, he said he has seen significant improvement. Now, though, his defense has begun to falter.

“Our line has improved throughout the season,” he said. “They’re doing a good job. Last week, it was defensively where we fell of a little bit in the second half.”

Parnham said it hasn’t been a lack of effort or want that loses the game in the second half — which is a relief for him — but it has been more of a mental lapse for his young players.

“I think it’s more mentally than anything where we’re having break downs on assignments and not being at the right place at the right time, and we forget what we’re supposed to do,” Parnham said. “That’s been the case here the last couple of games for sure.”

The Vikings will go against a Marksville High School team with an offense that will test the Vikings’ mettle this week.

“They’re going to be tough,” Parnham said. “They run a version of the Notre Dame Box offense, so it’s kind of hard to figure out which ball carrier has the ball, so we’re going to have to play disciplined on defense.”

Though the Vikings haven’t had much practice this week with Columbus Day, Parnham said they’d have to cram in a lot in a short amount of time.

“We have to get a lot accomplished in two days, so we have to go out there and practice hard — rain or shine,” Parnham said.

In order to end their season on a strong note, Parnham said, they must forget about their past mistakes and look at the last four games as a late start for a new beginning.

“We just have to finish up and finish strong,” he said. “We have to forget the past and what has happened in the past four games. We have to have short memory and go out and play hard.

“But we’re working hard and we’re trying to correct everything, and we’re going to keep working hard until the final buzzer goes off.”

The Vikings host Marksville at 7 p.m. Friday.