About the only way to tell Warren Central and Northwest Rankin apart are the teams’ colors. Their stats, records and style of play are basically the same.

One thing that will be different after tonight is their status in Region 2-6A. One will begin the region schedule with a win, the other a loss after they meet at Viking Stadium.

“We have two very similar teams,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “We have similar approaches. They love to run the ball and stop the run. They want to play physical.”

Both teams are coming off a bye week after finishing non-region play with 1-3 records. They have even played two of the same opponents, Callaway and Brandon.

There, however, is where there is a difference. Warren Central beat Callaway 26-23 in overtime. Northwest Rankin did not, losing 20-16. Fourth-ranked Brandon beat both, but the Vikings held a 7-0 lead after one quarter and did score 21 points in a 44-21 loss. Brandon had Northwest down 42-0 after three quarters before the Cougars scored a couple of late touchdowns in a 42-14 loss.

Northwest Rankin lost its starting quarterback and leading rusher from last season, as well as its best defensive player and several other key starters.

Quarterback Reid Humphreys is out for the season with an elbow injury. Tailback Ramone Nash was kicked off the team in the spring and later transferred to Madison-Ridgeland Academy. Defensive end Will Freeman signed with Southern Miss.

Northwest’s new quarterback, senior Benton Yancey, is completing 41.4 percent of his passes this season. He’s thrown for 296 yards, with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Junior running back Curtis Hicks leads the team with 305 rushing yards and three TDs.

Like Northwest, Warren Central has gotten mixed results on offense.

Aaron Stamps and Greg King have started to emerge as a solid running back tandem, with 393 yards and three touchdowns between them. The passing game, however, has struggled.

Quarterbacks Carlisle Koestler and Alex Stevens have combined to complete 42 percent of their passes and been intercepted seven times.

Koestler, a junior, will draw his fifth straight start tonight but Morgan did not rule out using Stevens, who came on in relief in the Natchez game.

“We’ve worked on it and we did it against a good pass rush,” Morgan said. “It takes having good protection to make it work. We know we have to get the ball more to Kourey (Davis), but at the same time, we need him to step up in the same aspect.”

Davis, a 6-foot-5 senior wide receiver, had his best game of the season against Natchez with six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown. Through four games, he has 11 catches for 199 yards. Sophomore Justin Williams has five receptions for 78 yards.

The bye week helped Warren Central’s overall health. Dog safety Curtis Ross saw limited action against Natchez but will start against Northwest Rankin. Connor Hughey also returns to the lineup after a couple of weeks on the injured list.

Besides getting healthy, Morgan said the Vikings used the time off to regroup and refocus following back-to-back losses to Hattiesburg and Natchez.

“We had a very productive week,” Morgan said. “We got better as a team. What comes to mind after watching over our first four games is that we have not put it all together. Hopefully, we can get it all together in the next couple of games.”