JACKSON — Warren Central only made one mistake on Saturday.

It was costly enough to end its season.

Northwest Rankin’s Trip Looser scored on a breakaway midway through the first half, and Taylor Walker added a clinching goal with seven minutes left in the second as the Cougars beat WC 2-0 in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“We had chances, we just couldn’t take advantage of it. We showed we could play with this team,” WC coach Greg Head said. “We made one mistake in the the first half that cost us a goal.”

The loss ended Warren Central’s best season in six years. It won the Division 4-6A championship and reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2004. The Vikings finished with a record of 15-6.

Northwest Rankin (15-4-2) advanced to the Class 6A semifinals on Tuesday against Madison Central.

“We achieved all of the goals we set for ourselves. Excellent season,” Head said. “On top of that, we’re not losing too many so we have a good core for next year.”

WC had six shots on goal, the same amount as Northwest Rankin, and outplayed the Cougars for several long stretches. The Vikings weren’t able to finish on several scoring chances, however, while Northwest cashed in on the few opportunities it got.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, Looser took a pass near midfield. As three WC defenders gave chase, he beat them to the edge and curled a shot into the right corner of the net to put the Cougars ahead 1-0. It was one of only two shots Northwest took in the first half.

WC picked up the intensity in the second half, but kept coming up painfully short.

Tim Hoeptner missed high on two long free kicks and struck the wall on a third from the top of the box. He was also tackled in the box with 12 minutes to play, but received a yellow card for taking a dive.

With 15 minutes left in the game, the Vikings missed their best chance to tie it. Hoeptner fed a ball upfield to Erik Chappell, who sent a cross to Matt Waddle on the right wing. Waddle made a strong run and was one-on-one with the keeper, but pushed his shot wide left.

Eight minutes later, a foul at the top of the goal box set up Walker for a free kick. He sent a grounder past the defense and keeper Jamal Brinnon to give the Cougars an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

“That was definitely the turning point,” Chappell said of the missed breakaway. “After that we controlled the game for the next 10 minutes. After the second goal, some of us gave up.”

Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com