Vikings entertain banged-up ‘Stangs

Published 12:00 am Friday, October 17, 2003

Warren Central’s Kenny Stewart (98) flies through the air to grab hold of Madison Central quarterback Tim Buckley during the Vikings’ 19-7 victory over the Jaguars on Friday night. WC moved to 3-0 in Region 2-5A with the win.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

[10/17/03]The reminders are everywhere.

A note on the scouting report reminding the Warren Central Vikings of what was lost. The final score, 25-22. Some gloating postgame quotes by the opposing coach.

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All of it in an effort to fire up the Vikings for tonight’s game against their bitter rival … Murrah?

“They’re not a pushover team,” said WC defensive back Jason Williams, who leads the team with four interceptions. “They’re not a team we can go in there and say we’ve got them. We did that last year and what happened? They beat us.”

Murrah (2-5, 0-3 Region 2-5A) didn’t just beat the Vikings last year, it embarrassed them.

WC was 8-1 and Murrah 1-8 when they met at Newell Field in Jackson last November. Three hours and 322 passing yards from Murrah’s Joseph Hawkins later, the Mustangs had a 25-22 win and WC had its second consecutive loss.

It also triggered a late-season slide in which the Vikings dropped four of their last five games. As WC (5-2, 3-0) makes a run at its first region title since 1997, head coach Robert Morgan hasn’t had to stress the importance of staying focused for what seems to be just another game on paper.

“Of course we’d like some payback. That’s on our minds too. But even more than payback is staying undefeated in our division,” Morgan said.

It might be a little easier for the Vikings to gain their revenge thanks to some key injuries for Murrah. Hawkins, wide receiver Jabary Gipson and three offensive linemen are expected to miss the game.

The Mustangs run a high-octane, pass-heavy spread offense that is sure to suffer if nearly half of its starters can’t go. Morgan wasn’t counting Murrah out, though.

“They’ve got other receivers,” he said. “It won’t change things for us, because we’re still going to have to defend some great athletes.”

To combat the explosive Murrah offense, the Vikings will try to grind things out on the ground. Tailback Larry Warner ran for 204 yards against Madison Central last week, and nearly a dozen different players have carried the ball at some point this season.

A strong running game will probably serve the Vikings well, Murrah coach Dale Payton admitted.

“They run the football very well and we have had trouble stopping the run. The biggest thing we have to do is make them work for yards,” Payton said.

The biggest thing for WC, meanwhile, is simply to remember last season and not let history repeat itself. It seems as if the Vikings have learned from the past and won’t allow that to happen.

“They got us good, and they played us for homecoming and beat us. That’s embarrassing,” Williams said. “The whole team is fired up to get out there and get them.”