VALDOSTA — Lowndes head coach Randy McPherson said on his radio show Tuesday night that the Vikings “got exposed in some places” in their 10-7 loss at Northside.

The Vikings are working extra hard this week in practice to make sure that doesn’t happen again this Friday in the Winnersville Classic against Valdosta.

“I think the loss has given us a little more focus, and made us quicker than we’d normally be,” linebacker Telvin Smith said. “Monday, we came in, and it was really intense. We were in full pads Monday. We usually come in in shorts and shoulder pads. Hopefully that’ll show up this Friday.”

McPherson confirmed the intense early-week practices.

“We worked them hard (Monday) and (Tuesday),” McPherson said on his radio show. “They’ve responded. Attitudes have been good. They had one bad game.”

The Vikings are coming off of their first Region 1-AAAAA loss since Nov. 3, 2006, when they lost at Tift County. Smith said the loss to Northside opened the team’s eyes and served as a reminder that in order to be No. 1, the Vikings have to work hard to earn it, that it won’t just be given to them.

“We didn’t come out like the Vikings should have come out,” Smith said. “I felt like it was a little bit of a lack of focus, but in the second half, we came out focused. It just wasn’t enough at the end.”

Since the loss, the Vikings have refocused. Smith said they’ve gone back to working on fundamentals and, surprisingly, having fun.

“After the loss last week, we felt like we were too intense, like too much into it,” Smith said. “We’re going back to the fundamentals and having fun. We’re going out there and playing our game.”

Now the Vikings are just two days away from the Winnersville Classic. While each team wants to win the game because it’s Winnersville, the game might be even more important because of region implications. With a win, the Vikings would move to 3-1 in the region and remain in at least second place. A win by the Vikings would also send the Wildcats to a 1-3 region record and near the cellar of Region 1. A loss by the Vikings would doom any chance they have of winning the region.

“It’s the biggest game of the season, so we have to come out and be ready,” Smith said.