The stats for Warren Central’s defense, if not staggering, had at least been big enough to raise an eyebrow.

It was giving up an average of 434 yards per game. It had allowed 84 points, a total that took 10 games to reach last season. Two opponents scored 42 points, something no one had done in more than two years.

Coming into Friday’s River City Classic game with archrival Vicksburg High, the Vikings needed a big game on defense to get some of their swagger back.

Boy, did they get it.

Warren Central held Vicksburg to 64 rushing yards and 195 total yards in a 23-0 victory. It was WC’s second consecutive shutout in the series and first this season after being shredded by Wayne County and Pearl in its first two games.

“All I’ve been worried about is getting our guys to be better and better and better. We’ve done that from Week 1 to Week 2, and from Week 2 to Week 3. Points can be deceiving. (Against Pearl) we had a bunch of turnovers and things of that nature,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “All they can do is worry about doing their assignment and being better tacklers and playing hard. If they’ll do that, I’m good with them. We needed a big defensive effort, and they stood tall today.”

Warren Central’s defense wasn’t just tall against the Gators, it was Bunyanesque.

Vicksburg only had one snap all night inside the red zone. In the second quarter, on a first-and-10 at the WC 19-yard line, Vicksburg running back Tim Jackson caught a screen pass and was stopped for a 3-yard loss. An incompletion and a sack followed before a long pass on fourth-and-20 fell incomplete.

The deepest Vicksburg advanced the rest of the night was Warren Central’s 33-yard line.

The Vikings also registered four sacks. They didn’t generate any turnovers, but had a few chances to.

Joe Shorter dropped two sure interceptions in the second quarter. On one of them, he had several blockers and a lot of open field in front of him and might have been able to return it for a touchdown.

“We just had to get back to the basics. Make sure we wrapped up on tackles and stuff like that. We made sure to stay calm and not get caught up in the hype of the game,” said defensive lineman Caleb Watts, who had a sack in the fourth quarter.

Once the Vikings started to pull away in the third and fourth quarter, Morgan said he was happy to see the defense keep its foot on the gas and earn the shutout. Vicksburg’s biggest offensive threat had been the deep pass, but its longest completion of the night was only 17 yards.

“It was being mature, understanding situational football and where we were in the game,” Morgan said. “Our kids are growing up in front of everybody. It was good to see them play a full four quarters and never let up or have a breakdown or a bust.”

The strong defensive effort lifted the Vikings on a night when their offense struggled. After scoring 70 points and averaging 373.5 yards in its first two games, WC was held to just 229 yards of total offense by Vicksburg’s strong defense.

One of the Vikings’ touchdowns came on a blocked punt, and two second-half touchdown drives were helped greatly by excellent starting field position.

“We had opportunities, and we felt like we were going to have opportunities. We were just sloppy on offense. We weren’t executing. Plays were there and we felt good about them,” Morgan said. “We weren’t our sharpest offensively. Finally we got clicking. I thought our defense was outstanding and special teams were good for us, and we needed them to be.”

The Vikings (2-1) will go on the road for the first time this Friday to play Natchez (1-1), then have a bye week before playing at Northwest Rankin on Sept. 25.

Morgan said the effort against Vicksburg should serve as a springboard into the difficult Region 2-6A schedule that begins in two weeks.

“For us, it’s huge from a confidence factor. That’s what we’re used to around here, and we need to get back to that to win football games and be successful,” Morgan said.

Up next

Warren Central at Natchez

Friday, 7 p.m.

Radio: 105.5 FM

Online: For live scoring updates Friday night, visit Facebook.com/thevicksburgpost