Warren Central’s football team is stepping up its game next season.

The Vikings will face Louisiana powerhouse Neville in a two-year home-and-home series in 2017 and 2018. The teams will play at Viking Stadium next season, and at Neville in Monroe, La., in 2018.

The Vicksburg Warren School District approved the contract for the series at its monthly meeting last week. Neville will replace Natchez on Warren Central’s schedule.

“Natchez didn’t want to play us anymore, and Neville is a top-notch team over in Louisiana,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “They’re in Monroe, which is 70 miles away. It was either go to the Coast or the Pine Belt, or North Mississippi, or this.”

Morgan said when Natchez dropped the game, the Vikings had few options for an in-state opponent that didn’t involve significant travel. It either already plays most of the Jackson-area schools or they were unavailable.

“We were really just trying to find a good game,” Morgan said. “And it’s a good game with close proximity.”

The swap of Neville for Natchez represents a significant upgrade in the Vikings’ schedule. Natchez won one game last season and hasn’t had a winning record since 2012. Neville reached the Louisiana Class 4A championship game this season and is 79-4 since the start of the 2011 season.

Neville has reached at least the Class 4A semifinals every season except one since 2009. It won the Class 4A championship in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015, lost in the championship game in 2012 and 2016, and lost in the semifinals in 2013.

The Tigers were the top seed in the 32-team Class 4A bracket this season but lost to No. 2 seed Edna Karr 34-21 in the 4A final in the Superdome on Dec. 10.

Adding Neville gives Warren Central one of its most challenging schedules in recent memory.

The Vikings will play both Mississippi Class 6A finalists, Pearl and Clinton; a Class 6A semifinalist in region opponent Madison Central; and its annual rivalry game against Vicksburg, which won nine games this season and has nine starters returning on its defense.

WC also has region games against perennial playoff teams Starkville and Northwest Rankin, and faces Class 4A contender Clarksdale in the Red Carpet Bowl. Clarksdale went 9-5 last season and reached the second round of the Class 5A playoffs, but is moving down to 4A in the latest MHSAA realignment cycle that begins in 2017.

Eight of Warren Central’s 11 opponents next season had winning records in 2015, and six of those had at least nine wins.

“We’ve always tried to challenge the kids and the program in scheduling. We’ve always had some very quality opponents. That’s how it’s laid out right now,” Morgan said. “Any time you’re challenged it’s either going to make you better or wilt your spirit. It’s a game that will definitely help us down the road, one way or another. We will definitely have a rugged non-district schedule.”