Murrah quarterback Nickoe Whitley completed 14 passes to his Mustang receivers Friday night. But it was the one he threw to Warren Central’s Michael Holt that had the biggest impact on this Region 2-5A contest at Viking Stadium.

Holt returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown that helped propel the Vikings to a 16-0 win on WC’s homecoming night.

The win keeps the Vikings (5-3, 3-1) in the hunt in Region 2-5A and that‘s what matters most to WC coach Curtis Brewer.

&#8220We played well enough to win, but we’ve got to play well every week,” Brewer said. &#8220The interception return by Michael Holt was a big deal. But I thought the entire defense played hard. We had to overcome a lot of the distractions that homecoming brings.”

Murrah (2-5, 0-4) moved the ball well for the first three quarters behind Whitley, a freshman, who finished 14-of-26 for 152 yards. He completed three of his first four passes for 46 yards to drive the Mustangs to the WC 9-yard line on the game’s initial possession.

But on a third-and-goal at the WC 12, he tried to fire a pass into the deep flat. Holt was there at the 7-yard line for the pick.

&#8220Coach tells me to keep my eye on the ball and run to the ball,” Holt said. &#8220My dad said I needed a pick. Once I caught it, I was thinking touchdown.”

Holt bolted down the sideline, untouched until he reached the Murrah 30. He made a quick stop to elude the last Mustang pursuer and then went on to the end zone.

&#8220I stopped so that guy would just go past me, that got me into the end zone,” Holt said.

The PAT kick was wide, leaving the score at 6-0 with 7 minutes, 32 seconds left in the first quarter.

Whitley drove the Mustangs inside the WC red zone twice in the second quarter. Both times the Vikings rose up to make a stop.

On a fourth-and-eight, Whitley was run down from behind off a scramble to force a turnover on downs. The third Murrah drive had its best chance to score, reaching the Viking 3 after Whitley hit Xavier Bolden for a 9-yard gain. But on fourth down, WC’s Larry Walker stuffed Dujon Cameron for a 2-yard loss.

&#8220Our whole defense came up and did a good job,” Walker said.

The Vikings got some breaks in the third quarter to gain a two-TD lead. A 78-yard Whitley completion was called back for a holding penalty. Backed up to the 9, Murrah saw a punt go only 11 yards, giving WC the ball at the 20.

Still, the Vikes couldn’t move until Ryan Williams hit Cornell Miles on a curl at the five. Miles bounced off a tackler and into the end zone for a 21-yard TD pass. Joey Bonelli had the PAT kick for a 13-0 lead with 2:46 left in the third quarter.

A 32-yard run by Carleton Davis, who had 118 yards on 26 carries, set up the game’s final score on Eric Richards’ 42-yard field goal with 59 seconds left.

Murrah had 15 first downs to WC’s five and outgained the Vikes 228-150.