1 of 9

Saltillo's Warren Central's Ebrahim Shuaibi (7) jumps over a Saltillo player after having the ball knocked away in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Blake Hern throws the ball in against Saltillo in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Nick Lee (3) and Saltillo's Kaiden Lindsey fight for possession of the ball during Friday's MHSAA Class 6A soccer playoff game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Luke Bond (6) plays the ball as Saltillo's Stihl Beane (12) defends in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Jacob Porter brings the ball up the field against Saltillo in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. Porter had a goal and an assist to lead the Vikings to a 4-1 victory. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central soccer coach Greg Head, left, helps Ebrahim Shuaibi off the field after Shuaibi cramped up against Saltillo in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Reed McClurg dribbles the ball against Saltillo in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Nick Lee brings the ball up the field against Saltillo in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Eriam Diaz-Mejias brings the ball up the field against Saltillo in an MHSAA Class 6A boys soccer playoff game on Friday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

This postseason isn’t just about chasing a championship for Warren Central’s boys’ soccer team. It’s about respect, and the Vikings are earning a lot of it.

Daniel Wescott scored two goals, and Jacob Porter had a goal and an assist as Warren Central beat Saltillo 4-1 on Friday in the second round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs.

Warren Central (18-2-2) advanced to the Class 6A semifinals for the second year in a row, and will host either Center Hill or Olive Branch on Tuesday for the North State championship. Those teams play a second-round game Saturday.

The back-to-back deep playoff runs come after Warren Central hadn’t been that far in 30 years. Coach Greg Head said this year’s success validates the Vikings as one of the state’s elite teams, even though they’d been a playoff regular throughout his entire 18-year tenure.

“I’m proud for the kids because they’ve worked hard to get back up here,” Head said. “Everybody kept saying it was a fluke. Nobody gives us the respect. In the polls, we keep dropping. I keep telling the kids we’re playing for respect and that’s how they get out here and give it everything they have. We had a good game plan going in here and it worked.”

The Vikings led Saltillo (12-10), almost quite literally, from start to finish. Their first goal came in the third minute when Porter saved a ball along the end line, then crossed it back in front to Wescott who tapped it in for the score.

Their second goal came in the 30th minute. Duke Esparza was fouled hard by Saltillo keeper Reid Smith just outside the goal box. Esparza received a cut on his head and left the game, and did not return. Smith received a yellow card for the foul.

Esparza’s brother, Charlie, took the ensuing free kick and ripped it into the top right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead and a very satisfying goal.

“What happened with my brother really made me mad. It really encouraged me to put that shot in the top corner,” said Charlie Esparza, who scored only his second goal since New Year’s. “I was so excited when I did that. I couldn’t control my emotions. I was so happy.”

Saltillo tightened things up in the 62nd minute, when Cooper Bingham was fouled in the box and awarded a penalty kick. Peyton Weems converted it to cut it to 2-1.

The Tigers had another scoring chance a minute later when another foul on Bingham just outside the box resulted in a free kick. The Vikings’ defense blocked it and cleared, however, and the attackers put the game on ice down the stretch.

After Smith stopped two shots in rapid succession in the 65th minute, Porter converted on a breakaway chance in the 74th to make it 3-1. Wescott scored the final goal off an assist from Nick Lee in the 78th minute.

“Even when it started getting close, it was 2-1, they didn’t panic. They kept playing and we got out of it,” Head said.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

More by Ernest

More Sports

Utica native Tavon Davis wins national title, shatters NJCAA record

Vikings end losing streak by beating Class 7A champ Brandon

Gators surge past Greenville for run-rule victory

Who’s Hot: Coltin Hancock