Warren Central defensive back Michael Robinson returns an interception during the Viking’ 35-6 throttling of Vicksburg High on Friday night. The Vikings won the Region 2-5A championship with the victory. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[11/10/03]Warren Central has smashed through every roadblock fate could throw up this season.

There were injuries to several key players on both sides of the ball. The Vikings found new stars in their second-stringers.

There were doubts about their inexperience, but when it counted, they played like veterans.

And there was a late-season loss to Clinton that set up a gauntlet of Region 2-5A heavyweights Grenada and Vicksburg. The Vikings rolled through them and become champions.

With a convincing 35-6 win over Vicksburg on Friday, WC clinched its first region championship since 1994. The prize that goes along with the trophy is a home playoff game Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Horn Lake.

“(WC) Coach (Robert) Morgan was talking about championship week every week, and it finally was championship week and we finally pulled it through and played up to our potential,” WC linebacker Vaughn Mims said.

WC has been winning this season with defense and a solid running game, but went a little off-script in Friday night’s demolition of Vicksburg.

Christian Hales threw three touchdown passes after throwing only five all season and the special teams came through with a blocked field goal in the first quarter.

The blocked field goal followed a dropped punt snap that had given the Gators the ball at the 18-yard line. The Vikings followed it up with a huge gamble on fourth-and-inches from their own 22-yard line. Larry Warner bounced off a VHS defender and gained 18 yards, swinging the momentum 180 degrees.

Vicksburg kept the game close until midway through the second quarter, but the same scenario that had played out in countless WC-VHS tilts in the past began to unfold again.

“We couldn’t have started any worse, and then that fourth down was a big turning point in the game,” said Mims, who dropped the punt snap on the first series and then made up for it by blocking the field goal.

From there, the Vikings went back to their basic formula pound the ball on the ground and dominate on defense.

They forced two James Jackson interceptions in the second quarter, triggering a 21-point outburst over a 5-minute span that gave them a 28-0 lead at halftime. The turnovers gave the WC offense a short field to work with, and the Vikings came up with three scoring drives that totaled five plays, 66 yards, and one minute.

“You never expect that,” Morgan said of the Vikings’ fast start. “I knew we were capable of that … But what we got we earned. We had a bad break early, and we stopped them and took the ball away, blocked a field goal, took it down and scored.

“What else can you ask for? That’s determination, preparation, desire, attitude, and good coaching.”

In the second half, the Vikings iced the game with a long drive that was textbook Warren Central football.

After Vicksburg had scored to cut it to 28-6 and drove inside Viking territory late in the third quarter, WC used a 16-play, 10-minute drive to end any comeback dreams. Warner ran for 46 of the Vikings’ 84 yards on the drive, and converted a pair of key third downs.

It was the kind of football that has served WC well during its 19-year playoff streak the longest in the state and figures to carry the Vikings deep into the playoffs again.

“This is just the first step toward where we’re heading,” said Warner, who ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns against VHS.