[12/21/02]Somebody forgot to tell the Warren Central-Vicksburg soccer players that the football season was over.

Two yellow cards and a soft red card, with plenty of mud-caked players strewn across the field, showcased the first meeting between the crosstown rivals, but the Vikings, in only their second game since Thanksgiving, shook off the rust to claim a 3-0 victory over the Gators.

“We were definitely rusty. When you have to play against your own team for a month, you don’t get realistic play,” Vikings coach Jay Harrison said. “It’s definitely good to get a couple games in before playing a team like Vicksburg.”

The fans in Vicksburg Memorial Stadium might have expected to see Gators football coach Alonzo Stevens and Vikings coach Robert Morgan on the sidelines as the game turned into a mosh pit at times rather than a soccer game.

The Gators (4-6) collected as many cards, three, as the Vikings (5-3) did goals.

Columbus transfer Matt Minyard picked up his first yellow card midway through a heated second half, and then earned a soft red on a verbal foul. Russell Morrison also collected a yellow card during the second half.

“It was pretty rough and there were a lot of late tackles, but they definitely out shot us,” Vicksburg coach Drew Kennedy said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, and we didn’t get back to defend.”

WC’s Dusty Pennington was the first to take advantage of a breakdown in the Gators’ defense, taking a Allen Carlisle pass and ruffling the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead going into the half.

If the first half was physical, then the second half was heated and the Vikings took full advantage.

Hunter Sumerall, caught in a scrum in front of the Gators’ goal, found a shot on backup goalie Eric Holland for a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the quarter.

Allen Carlisle scored five minutes later from 35 yards for a 3-0 lead.

“The guys played good. It wasn’t pretty, but three is all we needed,” Harrison said. “We were effective in what we did.”

(G) Vicksburg 6, WC 1

It looked promising early for the Lady Vikes (3-7).

They broke their three-game scoreless streak on a Hayley Martin goal off a corner kick, taking a 1-0 lead on the defending state champion Missy Gators (11-1-1) in the first quarter.

“It’s something we don’t do well, guard our goal on corner kicks,” Missy Gators coach Kevin Manton said.

“We just let a girl run free.”

VHS responded in typical fashion with an onslaught of goals.

Brandi Parker led the comeback with three goals and an assist, Holly Head had two goals and Viola Howard added a goal.

“I thought we played real well, almost every child played,” Manton said.

“Six goals on 15 shots isn’t too bad. I’ll take it.”