When their first trip to Memorial Stadium ended with a covincing win, but no takeaways, Warren Central’s coaching staff challenged the defense to generate some.

By the time they marched out of the vistor’s gate at Memorial Stadium for the second time, after Friday night’s 42-0 beatdown of Vicksburg High, it seems clear the Vikings got the message.

Warren Central’s defense generated five turnovers against the Gators, including three in the first 4 1/2 minutes that led to three touchdowns. In the last two games WC has 11 takeaways and is fast earning a reputation not just as a dominant defense, but an opportunistic one as well.

“They’re listening. They’re trying. It was evident on those fumbles. We were not only trying to get on it, but pick it up and do something with it,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “We’re going to need to do that to do what we want to do, and that’s to win a lot of football games. We’re really preaching it, and they’re being coachable and doing what we’re asking them to do.”

Warren Central (3-0) was helped on Friday by wet field conditions that led to a number of bad snaps by Vicksburg. Three of the Gators’ seven fumbles were the result of snaps over the head of quarterback Marquez Pickett.

WC, though, made some of its own luck.

On the third play of the game, Pickett threw a pass toward the sideline that was tipped by defensive back Byron Galvin and intercepted by Derrick Dixon. Dixon returned it 27 yards to the Vicksburg 18-yard line, and D.J. Knight scored on a 9-yard run two plays later for a 7-0 WC lead.

The next two turnovers were fumbles, one on a bad snap and the other on a botched handoff between Pickett and Tedarius Brown. Both were recovered by defensive end Hastings Ragland, who had quickly beaten his blocker and found himself in perfect position to fall on the ball.

Both fumble recoveries gave the Vikings the ball inside the 25-yard line and led to a pair of quick scores that made it 21-0 with 7:44 left in the first quarter.

All three of the turnovers were also a prime example of how Warren Central is turning defense into offense.

The 11 turnovers in wins over Callaway and Terry have led to 48 points on ensuing drives. The Vikings got another touchdown against Vicksburg when they pinned the Gators at the 1-yard line with a punt, then forced a punt and gave the offense the ball back in excellent field position.

“It’s hard to put long drives together, so any time we can make the field short, then it’s a big advantage for our offense,” Morgan said.

The biggest challenges for Warren Central still lay ahead. It has outscored its first three opponents — Terry, Callaway and Vicksburg — 114-12, but those three teams also have a combined record of 3-6 so far.

The back half of the schedule includes heavyweight matchups with Region 2-6A rivals Madison Central and Starkville, who are both undefeated and ranked in the top five of the Associated Press Class 6A poll.

The strong start, however, has served notice that WC will once again be a contender for the region championship. Warren Central face Natchez (3-1) this week in its home opener, as it looks to finish its non-region schedule undefeated for the first time since 2004.

“We’ll just keep it rolling. Keep it rolling. We can definitely be one of the top five defenses in the state. We’ve got a load of momentum,” Ragland said.