Warren Central soccer teams gear up for another deep playoff run
Published 4:00 am Sunday, February 2, 2025
Warren Central’s deep run in the 2024 MHSAA Class 6A soccer playoffs was an adrenaline rush — fun, exciting, and a little unexpected.
For 2025, the Vikings and Lady Vikes are being much more methodical. They’re both back as Region 2-6A champs, and not hoping to contend for a state title but expecting it.
“At the beginning of the year we talked about how we won district and that’s the new standard. It’s expected from now on. Then you build up to the next thing and the next thing,” WC girls’ coach Jeremy Lawrence said. “We’ve been talking about North State almost as if it’s a given because in their mind that’s where they should be. They expect they’re going to make it that far because that’s what they want.”
Warren Central will begin the 2025 Class 6A playoffs on Tuesday with a pair of home games. The Lady Vikes (16-4-1) will face South Panola (8-9) in the girls’ bracket at 5 p.m., and then the Vikings (16-2-2) will take on Lake Cormorant (6-8-1) in the boys’ game at 7.
Both Warren County schools are No. 1 seeds for the state tournament and reached the semifinal round last season. While they have high expectations, they are not taking their first-round opponents lightly.
“The four boys teams up there are pretty close together, so it’s not going to be a cake walk that first round even though we’re playing a No. 4 team. It’s going to be a tough route. They’re always good up there,” WC boys’ coach Greg Head said.
Head’s Vikings dominated Region 2-6A this season. They went undefeated by winning all eight league games by at least two goals and outscored their opponents 36-3.
The Vikings lost their top two goal-scorers and assists leader from 2024, which required some retooling. Head said he was pleasantly surprised with how fast that process played out.
“We had to get everybody clicking with a different midfield,” Head said. “Usually your midfield is your catalyst when you go from defense to offense. We worked hard at the beginning of the year trying to get everybody working together.”
Lawrence’s Lady Vikes had a lot of talent returning, but also had to evolve a bit. He said some players had to step into leadership roles on the field as the season went along.
“A lot of it was getting adjusted with leadership,” Lawrence said. “We have good leaders on the team but they aren’t as vocal. But on the field they demonstrate what we need to be. Once they got more comfortable in their roles we started playing better.”
The Lady Vikes lost four of their first five games, but only twice since mid-November. One of those losses, a 1-0 setback to Neshoba Central on Jan. 7, was actually a blessing in disguise, Lawrence said. He thinks it shook the Lady Vikes out of a growing sense of complacency after six consecutive victories by at least two goals.
“Especially with that first Neshoba game, we just felt comfortable,” Lawrence said. “We dealt with Ridgeland and
thought that was going to be our big challenge of the year, and thought, ‘Hey, we’re good and we’re playing well.’ That night wasn’t our night, it was super cold, and I think they realized it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. None of it’s easy. I think that’ll help us out in the end.”
Heading into the playoffs, both coaches aren’t as worried about complacency as they are rust.
The MHSAA added an extra week to the regular season to give teams a chance to play make-up games postponed by weather. Warren Central did not have to reschedule any games, so it has not played since Jan. 17.
Head and Lawrence are both doing what they can to resharpen their teams. Lawrence scheduled a game against Class 7A power Madison Central, which the Lady Vikes lost 4-0 on Thursday.
Head was unable to find an opponent for the boys, so he was planning to run at least one full-speed intrasquad scrimmage.
They’re hoping it’s enough to have their teams hit the ground running come Tuesday night.
“We set the schedule up and then they extended the season a week. We didn’t have any games that we had to reschedule. We’ll be going a week and a half,” Head said. “That does hurt, but we’ll be working hard.”
MHSAA CLASS 6A PLAYOFFS
Tuesday, Feb. 4
Girls
5 p.m. – South Panola at Warren Central
5 p.m. – Vicksburg at Saltillo
Boys
7 p.m. – Lake Cormorant at Warren Central
• Tickets are $10 and available through GoFan.co