Warren Central wasn’t dominant, dynamic or even particularly exciting Friday night. It simply got the job done.

Demarcus Jones rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns, and the Vikings used two long scoring drives in the second half to pull away from Callaway and earn a 24-6 win.

“It was a win that we definitely needed,” said Warren Central quarterback Jesse Wilson, who completed 7 of 9 passes for 45 yards before leaving the game with a shoulder injury in the third quarter. “We were sitting at the third seed, so we definitely needed it. It was a deal where we win, we’re in, and if we lose we don’t know what happens. So we just went in and gave them a hard-fought game.”

The win on the final night of the regular season assured Warren Central (9-2, 5-2 Region 2-6A) of the No. 3 seed in Region 2-6A. It will go on the road to play South Panola in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs next week.

In other region games, Clinton beat Starkville 35-28 to clinch the region championship. That result, coupled with Northwest Rankin’s 34-0 win over Murrah, eliminated defending Class 6A champion Starkville from playoff contention. Northwest Rankin got the No. 4 seed based on a tiebreaker with Starkville.

Madison Central secured the No. 2 seed by beating Greenville 44-7.

“It doesn’t mean anything, really. It’s just another team we’ve got to get ready to play,” Warren Central cornerback Shakee Shaw said of playing South Panola. “That’s just Warren Central. We don’t care who we play. If we’re playing them, we’re just going to try to win.”

Warren Central came into Friday’s game with a playoff berth in hand and needing only to beat Callaway (7-5, 2-5) to take the No. 3 seed. It couldn’t do any better, nor much worse, and for a time it seemed the Vikings knew they were a team with little to play for.

They took a 3-0 lead on Shayne Lewis’ 22-yard field goal on their opening drive and extended it to 10-0 on their second possession when Jones broke off an 85-yard touchdown run. Their last three drives resulted in two three-and-outs and a fumble inside the Callaway 10-yard line, however, and it was only 10-6 at halftime.

Warren Central had 168 yards of offense in the first half, with half of it coming on Jones’ touchdown run.

“They’re good, and their strength is our strength. When they have those big bodies and those good players in that interior box, it takes away what we want to do and the yards get tougher, and the blocks get tougher, and it just gets tougher,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “We were able to play better offensively the second half. The penalties were affecting us and that turnover in the end zone in the first half, you take away that and it’s a pretty good night.”

In the second half, the Vikings calmly and methodically pulled away. They took the second-half kickoff and drove 65 yards in six minutes and 14 plays to score on a 3-yard run by Jones.

Their next drive also resulted in a touchdown. Lamar Gray scored on a 1-yard run to cap off an eight-play, 76-yard march that bled 3 ½ minutes off the clock and made it 24-6 with 6:46 left in the game.

That lead was more than enough for Warren Central’s defense to work with. It held Callaway to 170 yards in the game, and only 51 in the second half. The Chargers started three drives inside WC territory in the second quarter as the teams waged a punting and field position battle, but they only advanced across the 50 on their own twice.

Callaway did not have an offensive snap inside the red zone. Its only touchdown came on a 32-yard pass from Tyrese Winford to Malik Heath with 1:51 left in the second quarter, on a drive that started at the Warren Central 47.

Winford completed just 6 of 23 passes for 65 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Heath caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.

“Maybe we started off a little sluggish in the beginning, but as we played we kept going and picked up the energy,” Shaw said. “We did pretty well on defense. We shut them down other than that one big play. It was mostly shutting down the run game and making them one-dimensional.”

UP NEXT:

Warren Central (9-2) at South Panola (7-5)

Friday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.

MHSAA Class 6A playoffs, first round

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