The season’s first meeting between Vicksburg and Warren Central was an epic slugfest that ended with a lengthy penalty kick shootout.

The second meeting didn’t last quite that long, but was no less dramatic.

Warren Central got first-half goals from Tim Hoeptner and Eric Chappell, then survived a late flurry by Vicksburg in the final 15 minutes to win 2-1 and finish a season sweep of the Gators.

“It’s a big win because it’s been on our shoulders for a long time. It feels good to get this monkey off our back,” said Greg Head, who took over as WC’s coach in 2005 but didn’t earn his first victory against Vicksburg until this season. “It’s been a mental block that we couldn’t win against them. After the first win, I think the kids realized that we could win, and could beat anybody.”

The victory clinched a playoff berth for Warren Central (11-3, 3-0 Division 4-6A) and all but eliminated Vicksburg from contention. VHS (6-12-3, 1-3) must beat Greenville-Weston and Clinton by three goals each and hope a slew of tiebreakers falls in its favor.

WC, meanwhile, can win the division title by beating Clinton twice or splitting and scoring more total goals in their games against each other on Saturday and Monday.

“I don’t see how we can come back,” Vicksburg coach Jason Bennett said. “We’ve got three games left and we want to win as many as we can. We’ve got a chance to win them all.”

The Gators very nearly did come back against Warren Central in a tough, physical game that featured a combined eight yellow cards between both teams.

Hoeptner scored on a penalty kick in the 17th minute of the first half, then in the 32nd minute Chappell gathered in a long pass from Matt Waddle and zipped a shot into the net to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead. Hoeptner had a chance to make it a three-goal game 12 minutes into the second half, but his penalty kick was stopped by VHS keeper Taylor Brocato.

The save turned the tide of the game.

With 15 minutes to play, a corner kick bounced off two Vicksburg players and found its way into the net to cut it to 2-1. Jordan Watson was credited with the goal.

Five minutes later Kyle Davidson took a shot from the 25-yard line that seemed destined for a much cleaner score. WC keeper Jamal Brinnon ranged from the far left side of the post to the far right, however, and stretched his 6-foot-2 frame as far as it could go. He punched the ball away at the last second to preserve the lead.

It was Brinnon’s fifth and final save of the night. None were prettier, and few will ever be bigger.

“It was just a reaction. I had to go for it,” Brinnon said. “I had to stretch out. I couldn’t get both hands to it, so I just had to get one.”

Brinnon’s save turned the tide back toward Warren Central. The Vikes misfired on three quality scoring chances in the last 10 minutes but controlled the action the rest of the way.

“We had chances all night. We didn’t have chances that missed. Their keeper made a couple of nice saves,” Bennett said.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com