Vikings’ defense blanks Greenville-Weston, 10-0|[10/06/07]

Published 12:00 am Saturday, October 6, 2007

Warren Central’s defense made sure the offense wouldn’t have to do much work Friday night.

The Vikings intercepted Greenville-Weston quarterback Denzel Parker twice and held the winless Hornets to 93 total yards in a 10-0 shutout in a crisp 1 hour, 43 minutes.

The win evens Warren Central’s Region 2-5A record at 1-1 and helped WC to a 2-4 overall record.

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“We played hard, really hard, and prepared hard all week,” said WC’s Travis Bell, who scored the lone touchdown with a 6-yard run in the second quarter. “We are ready to get this show on the road and hopefully tonight was the first step.”

The Vikings will travel to Madison Central next Friday night in what should be a much tougher opponent. Greenville averaged two yards per rush and misfired on 75 percent of its passes for only 28 yards. Joe Harris and David Cosby each had interceptions for the Vikings and David Henderson recovered a fumble.

“The defense came out and set the tone and we are continuing to improve on offense,” WC coach Curtis Brewer said. “The offense still needs to do some work, but a win is a win is a win.”

Warren Central got another impressive performance from running back Joel Forbes, who ran 25 times for 145 yards. Bell added 44 yards on the ground and the Vikings ran the ball for 48 of their 53 plays. WC also featured split quarterbacks with season-starter Keaton Sanders giving way on the first series to junior Larry Davis. Sanders connected on the only completion, an 8-yarder to Quinton Truly.

It wasn’t until early in the second quarter that the Vikings got on the board. Henderson recovered a Parker fumble at the Greenville 30-yard line with a minute to play in the first quarter and WC drove the ball 31 yards in two minutes capped by Bell’s 6-yard plunge up the middle. Jared Thames was true on the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

After forcing Greenville to punt, WC took over on its own 23 with 8:31 to play in the half. WC used 11 straight running plays before Thames converted a 28-yard field goal.

Greenville did not threaten before the half, or throughout the second. In the second half, the Hornets punted twice and had two interceptions. A third punt attempt sailed over the punter’s head giving WC the ball with 1:04 left in the game. The Hornets’ longest drive in the second half lasted six plays and netted 14 yards.

“The defense is really strong and we played like that tonight,” Bell said. “We are ready for Madison Central. We have to start preparing Monday for a tough game.”