For nearly 25 years, the Vicksburg Gators couldn’t win at Viking Stadium. Lately, it seems like they can’t lose.

Les Lemons returned a fourth-quarter interception 75 yards for the game’s only score, and the Gators used a superb defensive effort to shut out Warren Central 7-0 Friday night.

Vicksburg forced four turnovers — all in the second half — and held WC to 143 total yards to win for the second straight time at Viking Stadium. The Gators had dropped 12 straight at WC until winning there for the first time in 2005.

“That was good defense,” VHS head coach Alonzo Stevens said. “But the thing is, we hung in there tough. We played 48 minutes of football, and one of our goals is to be in every game in the fourth quarter. We’re just strong in the fourth quarter.”

For Warren Central, it was a second straight tough loss at home. The Vikings took top-ranked South Panola to the wire in their opener, then played Vicksburg to a standstill for much of the game.

The turnovers, though, broke up any offensive traction they started to gain and ultimately led to the deciding score.

“The defense was doing well, and then the offense had the intercepted pass,” WC head coach Curtis Brewer said. “Some of the things we just didn’t execute. And if you’re going to win games, you’ve got to execute.”

Lemons’ interception return was, in many ways, the game’s only highlight.

The junior defensive back picked off a Keaton Sanders pass over the middle, and nearly slipped down as he landed. Lemons kept his feet, though, reversed direction toward the Vicksburg sideline and got to the corner. He easily outran the last Viking lineman and cruised into the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown return.

“Don’t let nobody catch me. That’s the only thing I was thinking. Once I got past that first lineman I knew I had it,” Lemons said. “I was just reading the quarterback. They ran a wheel route and I jumped the route.”

Lemons’ interception was the third of four WC turnovers in the second half. Running back Joel Forbes fumbled twice, and Sanders threw two picks.

WC’s defense held strong, though, and didn’t allow any points. Despite starting three drives inside Viking territory, Vicksburg managed only two field goal attempts. Both were blocked.

After forcing WC to punt with just over four minutes to play, the Gators finally put a drive together. They marched 56 yards to the WC 18, picking up four first downs to burn off the last of the clock.

The Gators’ final drive was even more impressive since it came without top running back Delmon Robinson. He turned his ankle on a run midway through the third quarter and did not return. Robinson, who gained 80 yards on 15 carries, was walking on his own after the game and didn’t think the injury wasn’t serious.

“We were hitting and missing all night. A block here or there,” Stevens said.

It was the same way for most of the first half. Neither team moved past the other’s 30-yard line and they combined for 122 yards of total offense. The slow, plodding style led to a scoreless first half and turned the raucous capacity crowd’s early cheers into snores.

Things livened up on the first play of the second half, when Forbes — who had a game-high 83 rushing yards on 18 carries — fumbled and VHS recovered at the WC 36. After 10 plays, though, the Vikings blocked Ryan Ferrington’s 22-yard field goal attempt.

WC’s next three drives all ended in turnovers, but VHS was unable to take advantage and put the game away. WC’s defensive effort was equal to that of the Gators’. WC allowed only 157 total yards and didn’t allow an offensive point.

“Nothing happened to the defense. They didn’t do nothing. It was one mistake on offense,” Warren Central defensive lineman Bennie Peoples said. “It wasn’t no scheme. We just went up on them man-to-man.”