Every year, for the past six years, Caleb Hollingsworth would psyche himself up when it was time to face Vicksburg High. This is the time, he and his Warren Central teammates told themselves, that they’d finally beat their archrivals.

Each time, when it was over, they’d start the process all over again.

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On Tuesday night the waiting ended. And Hollingsworth, one of three seniors on Warren Central’s roster who hadn’t beaten Vicksburg in their entire varsity careers, got to deliver the blow that set off the celebration the Vikings had waited so long for.

Hollingsworth blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the net in the eighth round of penalty kicks to give WC a tense 2-1 victory over Vicksburg. It was WC’s first win over the Gators since 2005, ending a four-game losing streak in which it had been outscored 13-1. Overall, Vicksburg (4-3-1, 0-1 Division 4-6A) had won seven of its last eight against WC (7-0, 1-0) since Jason Bennett took over as coach in 2004.

“I’ve been playing on this team for six years and every year we lost. To take the last PK and win it, it’s a true honor,” Hollingsworth said. “It just feels like we’ve had the dark side on us for so long and now we put the light in their eyes and show them who we are.”

Chucky Hayden gave Vicksburg a 1-0 lead by booting a 25-yard free kick into the net eight minutes into the second half. WC’s Tim Hoeptner, a German exchange student, returned the favor with just over 10 minutes left in regulation by launching a gorgeous 40-yard rocket into the upper left corner. Hoeptner’s shot traveled on a line the whole way, never getting more than about eight feet off the ground.

The game remained tied through both 10-minute overtime periods, sending it to a shootout. There, both WC keeper G-mal Brinnon and his VHS counterpart Taylor Brocato were superb. Brinnon made three saves, while Brocato made two — and narrowly missed a third that would have ended the game. The junior deflected the shot of Erik Chappell, WC’s fifth shooter, but the ball still made it into the net.

“That’s his first penalty kick shootout in a game,” Bennett said. “Blocking a couple, I can’t say how proud I am. It’s easy to fold under that kind of pressure.”

Each team made one penalty kick, and each goalie made a save after Chappell’s goal. In the eighth round, Vicksburg’s Jordan Watson lifted a shot high over the crossbar to open the door for Warren Central.

Hollingsworth lined up his shot, and beat Brocato to the right side to finally end the marathon.

“The one thing I thought was, I have to pick a side. Don’t do any bends or anything fancy,” Hollingsworth said. “I realized this was it. This was going to be the last shot.”

But not the Gators’ last shot at WC this season. The teams will meet again in January at Viking Stadium, in a division game that will likely decide a playoff spot.

“As far as the district goes, it’s a lot better than last year when we lost our first game to Pearl 3-0 and we were behind the 8-ball right away,” Bennett said. “With it being 1-0, anything goes. It’s wide open. It’s not over by any means.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com