[12/12/01]Brandon made a tough week for Warren Central a little tougher to take on Tuesday.

Austin Clark had a goal and an assist as Brandon (5-0) outshot WC 28-6 and scored three unanswered goals in the second half to claim a 4-1 win.

Greg Carroll scored WC’s only goal, while goalkeeper Luke Sellers made 13 saves. It was WC’s second straight loss to a state power, with a game against Tupelo looming on Friday. The Vikings lost to Clinton in a shootout on Saturday.

“We didn’t mark well in the second half. I can’t fault Luke. He played an amazing game,” said WC coach Jay Harrison, who added that starting defender Will Clark was out with an injury. “(Sellers) kept us in it the whole time.”

Brandon bombarded Sellers early, keeping the ball deep in the WC end for the first 15 minutes. Sellers made three diving saves, however, and got three more stops by his defense.

“They always save me every game,” Sellers said.

Brandon’s Nick King finally cracked Sellers, however, knocking in a quick pass from Clark 13 minutes in to make it 1-0.

The Vikings answered, taking advantage of a foul by Brandon keeper Will Sowell to tie it on a direct kick by Carroll about three minutes later.

But the second half was all Brandon. Joel Waldrop knocked in a rebound to give the Bulldogs the lead for good just 11/2 minutes into the half, and about 12 minutes later, Ben Dufour booted a laser from 25 yards out to make it 3-1.

“That was a nice swing right there for us, and it took a little bit of (WC’s) excitement out of them,” Brandon coach Randy West said.

The Vikings, meanwhile, struggled to generate many offensive chances and managed only two shots in the second half.

“They outplayed us. They were a better team, and that’s why they’re No. 1 in the state,” Harrison said. “I thought the first half was played well.”

There were several hard fouls that led to red cards for King in the first half and WC’s Zach Richards in the second. Both players were ejected, although the fouls appeared to come while they were trying to make plays on the ball.

King was red-carded for a hard slide tackle from behind on WC’s Greg Carroll, while Richards got the red when he upended Sowell on a long ball near the goal that both players were going for.

Sowell jumped to catch the ball, and Richards went under him, spilling him head-over-heels.

“There’s no reason to throw a kid out for that. He’s not running his mouth, he’s not doing anything bad,” Harrison said of Richards’ foul. “He gets up there in the action of the play and he gets thrown out. That’s just demoralizing to a kid, and I hate to see that happen.”

(G) Brandon 5, WC 0

The Lady Vikes, coming off a tough, physical loss to Clinton on Monday, couldn’t generate any offense against another physical opponent.

The Lady Bulldogs (8-1) outshot WC 24-5 and dominated from start to finish, never trailing after Kathryn White’s rebound header 10 minutes in.

White scored two goals for Brandon, Sheri Toler added two goals and an assist, and Ashley Underwood scored once.

Courtney Hubert made 18 saves for WC (4-4-2).

The Lady Vikes stayed within striking distance until the final 15 minutes, when Brandon put it away with three goals in a 12-minute span.

WC coach Holly Lane said the Lady Vikes used the non-division game almost like a scrimmage, trying different alignments and players at different positions.

“We haven’t been able to practice since Thursday because … this is our fourth game in a row, so we haven’t had practices in between to work on things,” she said.