VIDALIA — Most high school head football coaches would be ecstatic with a lopsided win in the first week of the regular season. Vidalia High School head coach Dee Faircloth was not among those last Friday night.

Even though the Vikings would eventually pull away for a 34-7 victory over the Sicily Island High School Tigers, Faircloth was not pleased with the penalties that brought back long gains, the 90 total yards in penalties, or the lone turnover that led to the Tigers’ lone touchdown drive early in the first quarter.

“We’ve got to eliminate the penalties. We would have a drive going and then we would have a penalty. That’s uncalled for,” Faircloth said.

Faircloth added that he wants his offense to be more consistent in the first half, catch the ball better, maintain their blocks, and protect the quarterback. And despite holding Sicily Island to just 112 yards of total offense, he said the defense needs to do a better job of tackling.

“That’s the main thing we’re looking for defensively,” Faircloth said. “We got after it pretty good. We had a bad first half. We were more consistent in the second half. I was pleased with the way we competed and the way we hit.”

Now comes another LHSAA Class 1A opponent, but this one will probably be a more challenging one — the Delhi High School Bears, who won their season opener at Mangham High School 44-27. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. today.

“That’s a wake-up call right there. They’ve got a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. They fly around the field. It’s going to be a tough match-up,” Faircloth said. “We’re going to have to stop their quarterback, Brandon Williams. He’s their player. They’ve got some outstanding receivers. They’ve got a quick running back, Jimmie Thomas. They have the best receivers we’re going to see all year.”

Faricloth said the things that concern him about Delhi’s defense are their size and quickness.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us to move the ball,” he said.

Vidalia quarterback Tristan Weatherly will look to have another strong performance after going 17-for-24 for 173 yards and two touchdowns to go with one rushing touchdown. But the running game will have to do a better job of complimenting the passing game. The Vikings had only 94 yards on the ground last week on 19 total carries.

Home games

Catahoula Parish rivals Block High School (0-1) and Sicily Island High School (0-1) will face each other Friday with kickoff at Sicily Island at 7 p.m., with one of them picking up their first win of the season. The Bears lost their season opener at Buckeye High School 49-0, while the Tigers lost at Vidalia.

Road games

Ferriday High School (0-1) travels to Winnsboro, La. to take on LHSAA Class 4A Franklin Parish High School (1-0). The Trojans will look to put behind last week’s tough 15-14 loss at Alexandria Senior High School with a win over the Patriots, who defeated Rayville High School 45-6.

Delta Charter School (0-1) will also be on the road for the second straight week as they go to Grambling, La. to take on fellow LHSAA Class 1A opponent Lincoln Preparatory School (0-1). The Storm fell at Home High School 37-13 while the Panthers were shut out by Red River High School on the road 50-0.