[10/18/03]The one thing Larry Warner did not accomplish Friday night was reaching 300 yards rushing.

But it certainly was not for a lack of trying.

The Warren Central (6-2, 4-0 Region 2-5A) junior busted Murrah (2-6, 0-4) for 263 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns in a 44-16 victory at Viking Stadium. He became the first running back at WC ever to rush for back-to-back 200 yard games and helped the Vikings secure their 19th straight playoff appearance.

“I wanted 300 really bad,” said Warner, who ripped off touchdown runs of 20, 80 and 3 yards. “But I also wanted everyone to play, it was homecoming.”

In the third quarter with the Vikings holding a commanding 37-7 lead, coach Robert Morgan began substituting his younger players. Warner, though, always seemed to find himself in the huddle before being called off the field in favor of a replacement.

“Larry is our sparkplug and he did a great job tonight,” Morgan said. “What we were able to do was keep their offense off the field and we scored points with our offense.”

Warner, who rushed for 205 yards in a 19-7 win over Madison Central last week, scored two plays into the game after breaking a 56-yard run that moved the ball to the 20. His next carry resulted in a 20-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The rout soon followed.

One year ago, Murrah stunned an 8-1 WC team in Jackson. All week, Morgan and the rest of WC’s coaches kept the Vikings focused on keeping the lead in the race for the region championship.

The Mustangs gained 353 yards of total offense and cashed in on two Chris Johnson touchdown runs. The first TD with three minutes to play in the first quarter tied the game 7-7. But the Vikings responded by intercepting Johnson five times and recovering a fumble.

“We had to get some revenge on them from last year,” said WC cornerback Otis Stamps, who had two of the Vikings’ interceptions. “They said last year that we played like we hadn’t seen a pass, then they laughed about it. We had something to prove.”

Vaughn Mims, Chico Hunter and Donald Neal all added interceptions and Mims recovered a fumble for WC.

“We have some explosive kids on offense, but we have to find a way somehow to overcome the mistakes,” Murrah coach Dale Payton said. “We moved the football, but every time we made a miscue, they took advantage.”

WC salted the game away in the second half with a blistering running game and a career-long field goal by Will Clark to tally 30 points and take a 37-7 halftime lead.

Dexter Carson scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards, Warner added a 3-yard touchdown and quarterback Christian Hales connected with Amos Chase on a 13-yard scoring pass as WC took a 34-7 lead. With 7 seconds to play, Clark booted a 53-yard field goal to ignite a homecoming crowd and extend the lead to 30 points.

Warner capped his evening with an 80-yard scoring burst down the left sideline for a 44-7 lead with 8:22 left in the third quarter.