Julien Demby and Garrett Orgas have made plenty of memories together with Warren Central’s football team the past two seasons. One in particular makes them both laugh and cringe.

During a September game against Germantown, Demby returned an interception for a touchdown only to have it wiped off the scoreboard because of an illegal block penalty on Orgas.

When they were reminded of it, Demby did not let him forget it.

“Yeah, he did,” Demby said with a laugh.

Orgas cringed at the mention, and the memory.

“The whole rest of the night he was like, ‘You got my touchdown called back,’” Orgas laughed. “I see him with the ball, I want him to go score. I don’t think it was a penalty. Even after looking at it on film I don’t think it was a penalty. That’s just part of our defense. When somebody gets the ball, we want them to go score.”

The good-natured banter between the two showed both their friendship and part of what’s made them a great team. They combined for more than 200 tackles, 40 tackles for loss and nine interceptions this season.

This weekend, they’ll take the field together one last time when they represent their state in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game in Hattiesburg. Kickoff is at noon Saturday at Southern Miss’ M.M. Roberts Stadium.

In addition to the two Warren Central players, head coach Josh Morgan is on the Mississippi staff as the defensive coordinator.

“Not only as a teammate, but we became closer and closer over the years. He’s a great player. It means a lot to go play with him, or any of my teammates,” Orgas said.

Demby and Orgas were two of the top playmakers on a Warren Central defense loaded with them. Together, they had 10 of the team’s 25 takeaways. Demby had five interceptions, and Orgas had four along with a fumble recovery.

Demby, a linebacker, also had a team-high 117 total tackles while Orgas had 89 at safety. The Vikings allowed an average of 14.3 points per game while winning the MHSAA Region 2-6A championship for the first time since 2004.

“We believe that we had the best defense in the state,” Orgas said. “We had a lot of playmakers on defense. We made a lot of great plays and we were a huge part of that, most definitely. To be able to go represent our school and our team down there is a huge honor.”

Both players also scored defensive touchdowns — eventually.

Orgas returned another interception against Germantown for a 54-yard score. Demby got his two weeks later in a 24-21 win over Madison Central, which brought a smile to both players’ faces.

“To see him go get one the next week, that was an amazing feeling,” Orgas said. “He deserved it, especially after what happened last week.”

Both players have done well enough to earn several college offers each, and it’s likely they’ll play somewhere next season. Whether or not it’s together or against each other remains to be seen, so they’re enjoying this moment while it lasts.

“It’s a lot to be able to play with great players,” Orgas said. “To be able to compete with players at that level. Usually we’re all playing against each other. To be on the same team is going to be a big jump. I’m going to get a look at what it’s going to be like in college.”

MISSISSIPPI-ALABAMA ALL-STAR GAME
• Saturday, 11 a.m.
• At M.M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg
• The game will be livestreamed through FNUTL.com. It will also be available through the MAC Network, Roku, AppleTV & Firestick.