It took a team effort for Warren Central to get the playoff monkey off its back.

Five different players scored touchdowns, the running game was balanced as usual, and the defense was effective. Added up, it led to a 45-20 victory over Tupelo last week and the program’s first playoff victory since 2002.

“Warren Central needed the victory,” said running back DeMarcus Jones, who had 81 total yards and a touchdown. “It’s been 13 years and we made history tonight.”

Warren Central now gets a rematch with longtime Region 2-6A rival Madison Central. WC won the first meeting between the teams this season, 16-6 on Oct. 9 in Madison, and will return there for their first-ever postseason meeting with the Jaguars.

Warren Central has won the last two games in the series, the first time it’s done that since winning four straight from 2002-05. Madison Central won eight in a row against the Vikings from 2006-13.

The Vikings will need the same kind of effort they got against Tupelo.

D.J. Knight found the end zone twice on runs of 1 and 60 yards. Nick Wright kicked a 20-yard field goal at the end of the first half and Josh Wilson stumbled and broke tackles to go 33 yards for the Vikings’ final score.

Jones also had a big game, with five rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown and two receptions for 12 yards. He ran 48 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter and WC coach Josh Morgan said he’s been a special player all year.

Jones has five touchdowns on the ground this season, has caught eight passes for 111 yards and returned 13 kickoffs for 400 yards. He’s also scored on a kick return and a blocked punt.

“He blocks punts, he makes plays and the way (offensive coordinator) Rob (Morgan) uses him on the offensive side of the ball, we try to get him involved as much as we can,” Josh Morgan said.

Jesse Wilson, the Vikings’ junior quarterback, has also made big plays for the Vikings all season and shown he can keep calm in big moments. He said he’s improved a lot on his running and passing game throughout the season.

Wilson hasn’t surpassed 100 yards passing in a game since throwing for 294 in a 45-42 win over Pearl in August, and his 33-yard touchdown pass to Miraculous Powers in the first half was his first since Sept. 25 against Northwest Rankin.

Wilson, though, has been very effective on the ground. He’s second on the team with 720 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He ran for 146 and a touchdown on only eight carries against Tupelo for his third 100-yard rushing game of the season.

He has thrown for 905 yards and eight TDs as well.

“I’ve been working on accuracy most of the time and running wise, just reading my blocks,” Wilson said.

Wilson’s performance led the Vikings to a 31-7 halftime lead, their first playoff win in 13 years, and on to the next round.

“This is a big game for us,” Josh Morgan said. “They say in the playoffs you don’t have a chance to fix things after it’s over with. You either play great or you don’t. We jumped out really good and that kind of gave us some breathing room early.”

Warren Central at Madison Central

Class 6A playoffs, 2nd round

Friday, 7 p.m.

Radio: 105.5 FM

Online: For live scoring updates on Friday night, visit Facebook.com/thevicksburgpost or Twitter.com/vicksburgpost