Looking at just the score of Friday’s Red Carpet Bowl opener between Warren Central and Ocean Springs, a 35-0 WC loss, a casual observer would conclude it was a simple blowout.

But the score doesn’t tell the whole story.

For most of the first quarter, the Greyhounds were unable to move the ball effectively after their second drive yielded a touchdown. But after that score things fell apart for the Vikings (0-1).

The Vikings used the running of quarterback Beau Wallace and tailback Shon Jackson, who ripped off a 29-yard scamper, to get into the red zone on just their second drive.

But from there, the execution ground to a halt like sand in the gears.

A fumble and a penalty backed up the offense and on third-and-long, Wallace was sacked for a big loss. While the fumble wasn’t a turnover, it was a momentum killer and led to the drive resulting in a long missed field goal by Devon Bell rather than a touchdown.

Then the wheels fell off the proverbial wagon. After the Vikings recovered a drive-killing fumble in the red zone, Jackson was stripped on third and long by Ocean Springs’ safety Malcolm Joiner on the 2-yard line.

But even after the score, the ‘Hounds were just on top by two scores. A Viking TD would’ve gone a long way towards dissipating any hopes of a walkover. Then Austin Roberts’ fumble set Ocean Springs up with great field position and its potent offense cashed in with another score to extend the lead to 21-0.

With just two fumbles, a winnable close game against a top-flight team shifted to desperation mode on the WC sideline.

“When they went up 21-0 at the half, it totally takes you out of your gameplan,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “The unfortunate mistakes we made turned into points. Those are just little, bitty things we can fix. There is nothing that we can’t fix.”

Shon Jackson, who rushed for an effective 95 yards, was basically taken out of the equation as the clock became the Vikings’ enemy. Jackson was held to just 4 yards rushing in the second half.

Another fumble, this time on the opening WC drive of the second half, was the final, fatal blow to the WC hopes of an upset. Ocean Springs got a touchdown a few plays later from Dewayne Cherry to salt the contest away.

The big halftime lead resulted in the Vikings having to go strictly to the pass as time became an enemy. The young WC offensive line struggled in pass protection and will have to improve going forward.

It’ll help the Vikings get the run/pass balance they seek on offense and keep opposing defenses from stacking eight or even nine defenders in the tackle box to key on Jackson like defenses did against Tim Jones last season.

“We’ve got to shore up our pass protection because Beau can’t make any plays having to run for his life back there,” Morgan said. “We’ve got to be able to complete the deep ball to keep them off of us.”

The Vikings play at Lawrence County on Friday.