Hattiesburg stops Warren Central

Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 5, 2009

HATTIESBURG — Warren Central gave Hattiesburg its best shot.

It’s a shame that a 14-0 lead wasn’t a knockout blow. The Tigers reeled off 28 unanswered points en route to a 28-14 victory on Friday night.

“We did what we were supposed to do, but now, we’ve got to start over Tuesday,” WC quarterback Beau Wallace said. “We got overconfident and we lost all of our momentum.”

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Warren Central (1-2) took a 14-0 lead in the first half on the legs of Tim Jones, who ripped the Tiger defense for 108 yards and touchdowns of 1 and 8 yards.

But from that point onward, the Hattiesburg no-huddle attack gashed a depleted Warren Central defense. After being stymied on its opening drive, Hattiesburg’s offense averaged 8.7 yards per play the rest of the way. With several starters out with the flu, the WC defense wore down as the game unfolded.

“We had a really stressful week,” WC coach Curtis Brewer said. “It was a game that is going to test us to see how we get up off the ground. They had a good football team. We’re improving, but we’re playing a lot of kids both ways. We’re just going to have to get better.”

Down 14-0, the running of quarterback Tevin Chapman and running back Marcquise Hosey propelled the Tigers (2-1) down the field on two quick drives. Hosey ripped through the Viking defense for an 18-yard TD to cut the deficit to 14-8 after Chapman hit Mathew Naylor in the back of the end zone on a fake extra point.

“I told them, ‘guys, stay focused and don’t get rattled,’” Hattiesburg coach Doug Hoehn said. “We’re going to speed the game up a little bit and try to pressure them and not let them sit back and dictate to us.”

After the Tiger defense forced a three-and-out, Hattiesburg got back into gear.

Chapman and Hosey combined for the lion’s share of the yardage, but the Tigers dug into their bag of tricks as Michael Hunter took the reverse 30 yards for a touchdown on third-and-4. Chapman put Hattiesburg ahead 16-14 at the break as he found Brian McKinley open for a two-point conversion.

“We were playing so flat,” Hosey said. “I give it up to our line, because they stepped up and got their assignments just right.”

In the second half, the Vikings had a chance to swap the momentum. After a big stop by the WC defense, the Vikings went on the march, as Jones ripped off a 14-yard scamper and John Gustavis broke a ton of tackles on a 19-yard rumble. But the drive stalled on fourth down as Jones was dropped for a 6-yard loss on a screen play.

The Tigers responded with a 13-play, 63-yard drive capped by Hosey, who went off tackle 2 yards for the score to put the Tigers up 22-14 early in the fourth.

After Wallace shanked a punt off the side of his foot, the Tigers got good field position at the WC 49. Hosey then put the dagger in WC’s hopes midway through the fourth quarter, as his 1-yard touchdown capped a 165-yard, three-score night.

The Vikings had one more shot late in the fourth quarter after Bill McRight intercepted a Chapman pass at the Hattiesburg 40. But after Wallace hit a couple of quick completions, the Hattiesburg defense held strong on fourth down to end the Vikings’ final threat.

Jones finished with 137 yards on 18 carries and two scores, while Wallace completed 13 of 21 passes for 73 yards.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com