Last season reminded Warren Central football coach Curtis Brewer of Willie Nelson’s &#8220On the Road Again.”

The Vikings played seven games away from Viking Stadium because of a reshuffling of the schedule.

This year’s team will have no such problems as the Vikings will play three games outside of Warren County – at Meridian, Greenville and Murrah – meaning eight games within 10 miles of Viking Stadium.

&#8220Last year, every time we got ready to play a game we thought we had to get on a yellow dog,” said Brewer, who guided the team to a third-place finish in Region 2-5A and extended the school’s record streak for making the state playoffs to 21 years.

A trip to play defending Class 5A South State champion Meridian and Class 3A power South Pike highlight the early schedule before the team hits play in Region 2-5A.

The Vikings will begin things on Aug. 25 in the first game of the Red Carpet Bowl against Memphis-Kirby at Vicksburg High.

Following that, the Vikings will host two games before traveling to Meridian.

Region powers Northwest Rankin, Clinton and Madison Central all will play at Warren Central. The Vikings also will play a rare Thursday night contest on Oct. 12 at Murrah.

&#8220We haven’t played one of those in a long time,” Brewer said.

The Vikings will play two games at Vicksburg High, the RCB and the annual Warren County grudge match between the two largest classification schools on Nov. 3.

The Gators are coming off a 10-0 victory at Viking Stadium last year, the first time the Gators have won at Warren Central.

Vicksburg will host Indianola-Gentry in the second game of the Red Carpet Classic and will similarly face a tough schedule.

Vicksburg will play defending Class 3A champion Hazlehurst, then host Southaven before beginning region play.

St. Aloysius starts its season on a Thursday with a home game against Cathedral.

Porters Chapel, which will compete in Academy-AA this season, will plays its first game on Aug. 25 at Heidelberg.

Practice begins for teams across the area on July 31.