After spending several years as a football program on the rise, everything seemed to point to this being the season when Warren Central took a step backward.

Only four of 22 starters returned on a roster gutted by graduation. The schedule was brutal, with eight playoff teams from 2016 on it, and Region 2-6A was unforgiving as always. The Vikings could have pointed to those obstacles and struggled, and few would have blamed them.

They didn’t make excuses, however. They made hay.

The Vikings didn’t win five or six games, they wound up winning nine and were within a few plays of an undefeated season. They were a team that got better as the second progressed, winning five games in a row at one point to reach the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

The program didn’t take a step backward, it took a big one forward by showing it can survive change and remain in the upper echelon of the toughest region in the state.

Leading the charge was head coach Josh Morgan. He made clear this season that he has built a perennial contender at Warren Central, and that is why he was selected as The Vicksburg Post’s Coach of the Year.

“Our guys did a phenomenal job of rising up, waiting on their opportunity, and they ran with it,” Morgan said. “It’s a nod to our program. The way we’re running it, the way we develop players, and also the guys who waited and developed into players and made the most of it.”

This is the third year in a row that Morgan has won the Post’s award, and the fourth time since he became WC’s head coach in 2010. It also might have been his biggest challenge.

After taking eventual Class 6A champion Clinton to overtime before losing in the 2016 playoffs, Warren Central lost 18 of its 22 starters. Morgan and his coaching staff routinely sub players in and out, particularly on defense, so the total losses weren’t as crippling as they could have been, but all of the offensive skill positions had first-time starters.

Unexpectedly, they looked like seasoned veterans from the get-go.

The Vikings won three of their first four games as the newcomers got their feet under them. A change to the defensive lineup following a 38-31 loss to Northwest Rankin in the Region 2-6A opener shored up that side of the ball and turned the Vikings into a powerhouse. They won six of their next seven games, including dominating victories over region champions Starkville and Tupelo.

“Our guys were playing some close games early and started winning them late,” Morgan said. “To see it year-in and year-out validates our program as a year-in, year-out contender.”

The defense ranked fourth in Class 6A in points allowed (13.3 per game), and an offense that had three 1,000-yard rushers in 2016 totaled 2,784 yards on the ground this season. Defensive lineman Jeremy Miller and defensive back Walt Hopson were selected to play in the Mississippi All-Star Game, and offensive lineman Braden Moody played in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game.

All four of the Vikings’ losses were decided late in the fourth quarter or in overtime, and by a total of 20 points.

“One of the things we said going into our playoff run was to leave no regrets, and I feel like we did that,” Morgan said. “We can look at the man in the mirror and know we did everything we could do. If you do that, there’s peace with it.”

Warren Central lost in the second round of the playoffs to Madison Central, but reached a lot of milestones along the way:

• Morgan raised his record to 52-23 over the past six seasons.

• It’s the first time Warren Central has gotten to the second round of the playoffs three years in a row since a five-year stretch from 1991-95. WC has not been past the second round since winning its last state championship in 1994, but Morgan feels it’s just a matter of time before a breakthrough occurs.

“It’s keep on keeping on. That’s what we’re going to do. The experience we’ve gotten, not only as players but as coaches, knowing we’ve been so close the last several years, is what keeps us going. There’s no mental block there. We had some good things happen for us and some things that were not so good,” Morgan said. “It’s going to come another time. We will persevere and everything we’ve been working for will be rewarded.”

• It’s the first time the program has posted four consecutive nine-win seasons since 1992-95. The current four-year streak is the longest active streak in Class 6A.

“That’s pretty staggering, because talent comes and goes and players graduate. That consistency, a lot of hard work goes into that. It’s extremely hard to do,” Morgan said.

The Vikings seem poised to keep building on their success. Leading rusher Corey Wilson, Jr., and leading tacklers Lamar Gray and Malik Sims are among the starters returning in 2018. A host of less-heralded players that saw significant playing time this season will step into more prominent roles, and the Big Red Machine on Highway 27 should continue to roll.

“If we can continue to keep our coaching staff together, and our players will keep giving a relentless effort, then our program will continue to keep being successful,” Morgan said. “I’m very proud of our guys. They made the school and the community proud. Good players make good coaches.”

Vicksburg Post Coaches of the Year
2017 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2016 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2015 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2014 – BJ Smithhart, St. Aloysius
2013 – Tavares Johnson, Vicksburg
2012 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2011 – Alonzo Stevens, Vicksburg
2010 – Todd Montgomery, Central Hinds
2009 – Curtis Brewer, Warren Central
2008 – BJ Smithhart, St. Aloysius
2007 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2006 – Jim Taylor, St. Aloysius
2005 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2004 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2003 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
2002 – Jim Taylor, St. Aloysius
2001 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
2000 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1999 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1998 – J.J. Plummer, Porters Chapel
1997 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1996 – Bubba Booth, St. Aloysius
1995 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1994 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1993 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1992 – Bubba Booth, St. Aloysius
1991 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1990 – James Knox, Vicksburg
1989 – James Knox, Vicksburg
1988 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1987 – Joe Edwards, St. Aloysius