The mantra for Vicksburg during the week leading up to Friday’s game against Warren Central was simple.

Finish. It was something the Gators didn’t do against Murrah last week.

The phrase permeated the sideline like hanging smoke from the grill. After every series. Finish.

The Gators (2-8, 2-4 Region 2-6A) did exactly that, putting together some big plays on offense and some stops on defense into a 22-12 victory over their archrivals at Memorial Stadium.

“Nobody quit,” Vicksburg coach Alonzo Stevens said. “There was no quit in any of them. A game like this speaks volumes for what is in the future for this program.”

The victory was made even sweeter since Vicksburg’s senior class became the first in the school’s history to never taste defeat against their cross-county rivals.

“It’s surreal,” Vicksburg senior wide receiver Milan Nasif said. “It’s surreal that we’re the first class to do that. This game shows that you throw the records out and we played our hearts out.”

The loss was even more bitter for Warren Central considering the Vikings missed a couple of field goals and turned over the ball three times.

“I believe in my heart we should’ve won this game,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “We ran the ball well and carried out our game plan. We missed some field goals and some opportunities. You can’t do that and expect to win.”

Down 7-6 at the break, the Vikings (2-8, 1-5) drew first blood in the second half, taking their first lead of the contest as on a nine play, 65-yard march helped by a pair of costly Vicksburg penalties. Quarterback Beau Wallace took the keeper in from 7 yards out to give Warren Central its only lead of the game at 12-7.

From there, it was all Vicksburg.

Vicksburg quarterback Cameron Cooksey found running back Kawayne Gaston a 64-yard screen pass, setting up Gaston’s 3-yard plunge on the next play. Nasif turned a bad snap on the extra point into a two-point conversion, finding Alvin Stamps for his only grab of the game to give Vicksburg a 15-12 lead it never relinquished.

On the next Vicksburg drive, Cooksey found a wide-open Lamar Anthony for a 42-yard TD connection to extend the advantage.

The defense did the rest, as Anthony and Jonathan Clay had big interceptions to finish off the Vikings.

In the first half, the Gators put together a great opening drive and suffered through three consecutive three-and-outs while a controversial fumble on a lateral snuffed a promising WC drive in the second quarter. Gaston scored on a 2-yard run and Warren Central fullback Austin Roberts scored from 1 yard out to account for the scoring.

“Our coaches teach us to take it up 20 notches more,” Vicksburg offensive tackle Jeremy Hill said. “We wanted this game more than they did. We pulled together as a team. We rule the city.”