For Warren Central head coach Curtis Brewer, missing the playoffs for the first time in 22 years wasn’t the most disappointing thing about the 2006 season. Neither was finishing with the program’s first losing record since 1990.

For Brewer, the thing that made this campaign frustrating was how close the Vikings were to not doing those things.

With a few plays here, a few bounces there, WC could have won seven or eight games instead of the five they ended up with, Brewer said. In the end, however, those bounces didn’t go its way and WC will try to regroup for next year after sitting out the postseason for the first time since 1984.

&#8220The biggest disappointment was a situation where we could’ve won and we let it slip away,” Brewer said. &#8220We had kids that played so hard and did so well that it’s hard to have a bad feeling about it, because you try to look at positive things.”

The most positive things for the Vikings this season were defense and special teams.

Only Meridian scored more than 20 points on WC and opponents averaged just 190.7 yards per game. Led by senior linebackers Wade Carter and Sean Elliott, the defense came up with a number of goal-line stands over the course of the year and kept the team close every week.

The defense has to be rebuilt for 2007, however. Four linebackers – Carter, Elliott, Colin Carvey and Trey Robinson – are graduating, as is sack leader Vincent McRaven. Most of the secondary returns, but the playmakers up front must be replaced.

&#8220We’re going to lose the linebackers. It’s going to be very critical to fill those positions,” Brewer said.

As good as WC’s defense was, its offense was the exact opposite.

The line was powerful but slow, and the quarterback undersized. Unwilling to expose 140-pound sophomore quarterback Keaton Sanders to a pass rush, the WC coaching staff scaled back the gameplan to the point where it consisted mostly of runs up the middle.

Sanders threw only 68 passes all season, and dropped back only twice in a season-ending 29-9 win over Vicksburg. The team’s leading receiver, Quinton Truly, only caught eight passes.

That left fullback Vic Tyrone and sophomore tailback Joel Forbes to carry the load. They responded with a combined 1,198 rushing yards – 813 of them by Forbes – and allowed the Vikings to grind the clock and keep things close.

&#8220Joel was our plug. He was the consistent thing in the last seven or eight ballgames,” Brewer said. &#8220For him to get the yards he did, when they had their eye on him was great.”

Forbes, Sanders, Truly and speedy receiver Ben Wau Caples are all back next season, but four of the five offensive linemen from this year’s team are not. While that will allow WC to retool its offense around the skill players, it will leave a question mark until new linemen emerge in spring drills and preseason practice.

If the offense doesn’t improve in 2007, the biggest departure from this year’s team will be felt even more.

Mississippi State commitment Eric Richards averaged 45.4 yards per punt, made 8 of 12 field goal attempts and had touchbacks on 31 of 44 kickoffs. By midseason, the WC coaching staff was building its gameplan around him – keep the opponent pinned down with touchbacks and punts, hold them to 10 or 14 points with solid defense, then convert on turnovers and try to win low-scoring games with field goals.

&#8220The special teams players, the kickers and so forth, are going to have to step up big. We’re going to be very fortunate if we have anybody come through of Eric’s caliber again,” Brewer said.

While the Richards-based gameplan was solid, poor execution was its undoing. The Vikings committed too many turnovers deep in enemy territory and didn’t create enough. They finished the year with a minus-4 turnover differential, and 11 of the 23 turnovers the defense created came in wins over Memphis-Kirby, Murrah and Vicksburg.

Correcting those mistakes and getting the WC machine back on track will take a huge effort by both players and coaches in the coming months, Brewer said.

&#8220There’s some (underclassmen) that are going to have to play. If they don’t have a good offseason they’re not going to be very successful,” Brewer said. &#8220Players and coaches both are going to have to have a great offseason. We’re going to have to get as much as we can out of as many kids as we can.”