Murrah gift-wrapped a victory for Warren Central with five turnovers Friday night.

But Warren Central refused to open it. Murrah quarterback Chris Webster scored on a 10-yard run with 4:59 left to give the Mustangs a 26-20 win.

Murrah gashed WC’s defense for 338 yards, with running back Antwan Bulley and Fred Franklin going for 144 and 140 yards, respectively. The Mustangs recovered two onside kicks.

                                                                                     

Murrah 26, WC 20

Records: Murrah (4-4, 3-1 Region 2-6A), WC (1-7, 1-3)

The skinny: WC can’t cash in on five Murrah turnovers

Up next: Warren Central at Clinton

                                                                                    

“We’ve got to figure out ways to make plays and win some of these ballgames,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “Not recovering the onside kicks was wholly unacceptable, as much as we work on special teams in practice.”

The Vikings (1-7, 1-3 Region 2-6A) took their first lead of the game, 13-12, on the first play of the fourth quarter. Kourey Davis scored his second TD of the night on a 25-yard quarterback keeper and Devon Bell’s PAT gave the Vikings a one-point lead.

On the next Mustang drive, WC’s Andrew King picked off a Webster throw and ran it all the way back to the Murrah 25-yard line. Four plays later, Davis found Patrick Varnado for a 8-yard TD connection to give WC a 20-12 advantage with 10:07 remaining after Bell’s PAT.

Murrah didn’t need long to reply, taking just five plays to go 80 yards, half of it coming on Bulley’s 40-yard TD run that cut the lead to 20-18.

The Mustangs (4-4, 3-1) caught the Vikings off-guard with a second onside kick and they recovered it at the WC 35-yard line to set up the winning touchdown.

The Vikings had one final possession, but the Mustangs dropped Aaron Stamps for a big loss on third down. Morgan elected to punt and Bell’s punt was downed at the Murrah 5. But two first downs later, the Mustangs ran out the clock on the game and probably, the Vikings’ playoff hopes.

In the first half, the Mustangs dominated time of possession and total yards, holding the ball for more than 20 minutes and rolling up 194 yards of offense.

WC had a half offensively to forget. The Vikings had one first down and 30 total yards.

But they could only manage two scores, a 71-yard run by Bulley and a 6-yard carry by Franklin to take a 12-0 lead.

Davis got the Vikings back into it, as he picked off a Webster pass and went 45 yards for the score. He finished with three touchdowns.