This season, Warren Central (3-4, 2-1 Region 2-6A) has made a comeback on the football field, with a playoff berth within reach.

But the best might be yet to come for the Vikings. Both the eighth- and ninth-grade squads have a chance to win Little 6 conference titles. The Little 6 conference is composed of teams from Brandon, Clinton, Madison Central, Northwest Rankin, Pearl and Vicksburg.

Three of those teams — Clinton, Madison Central and Northwest Rankin — are part of Region 2-6A, giving the youngsters an early taste of the rigors of Class 6A football.

The two teams are 5-0 and both play Tuesday, with the eighth-grade team playing at Clinton and Clinton’s ninth-grade team visiting Warren Central at 6 p.m. The teams finish their schedule on Oct. 22, as the eighth-grade team plays at Terry and the ninth-grade squad hosts Terry.

Both teams boast large numbers, with 45 ninth-graders and 65 eighth-graders dressing out. This bodes well for the program’s future.

If the teams represent the program’s seed corn, the future is a bright one. Winning is a habit, just like losing, and it seems like the WC youngsters have developed the former. It’s a lot easier to start teaching kids to win in junior high than when they make it up to the varsity level, when habits become engrained.

“Our junior high program is your lifeline as a coach,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “When we started building our program, we knew we had to start at the junior-high level. The job our coaches are doing with the kids is unbelievable. We’ve really got it going in the right direction. They’re the building blocks of our program and what they’re doing is very exciting.”

At the junior high level, WC has stressed continuity. Players are brought into the program using the same schemes and terminology they’ll use at the varsity level. It means that when the ninth-grade season ends, any call-ups to the varsity roster will be able to adapt quickly and make an impact.

But it’s not just schemes the youngsters learn.

“In the eighth grade, we want our players to be instructed in Viking pride, our tradition and discipline,” Morgan said. “We want them to learn what it means to be a Viking.”

While the present can be seen Friday nights under the lights, the future is on the field on Tuesdays.

And what a bright future it is.

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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.