During its three-year absence from the playoffs, having to rely on help from others was a big reason why Warren Central found itself staying home in November.

On Friday night, the Vikings needed no such help. They punched their ticket to the Class 6A playoffs with a solid 20-7 win over Grenada and will travel this Friday to Olive Branch (9-2) for a first-round game.

The Vikings are also the last team in the Vicksburg Post area still playing. Porters Chapel and Tallulah lost first-round games in the MAIS Class A playoffs last Friday. Hinds AHS lost to Taylorsville 39-8 in a MHSAA Class 2A playoff game while South Delta was upset by Belmont 27-16 in the 3A playoffs. St. Aloysius, which needed to beat Sebastapol to earn a 1A berth, lost 27-20 in the regular-season finale.

Vikings coach Curtis Brewer said his team’s quick start in region play, which included a clutch 27-26 overtime win at Northwest Rankin, was the key to earning the program’s first postseason trip since 2005.

“We were fortunate that this year we won early rather than having to hope someone else could do it for us,” Brewer said. “We may go one-and-out, but I’m just glad to be one-and-in.”

The Vikings (6-5) got to the playoffs by using the power running game. Fullback John Gustavis ran for 79 yards on 16 carries and capped a game-opening 14-play, 79-yard drive with a 5-yard TD run. Tailback Tim Jones had 121 yards and a touchdown.

“We’ve been trying to get John some feeds and he did a good job with them,” Brewer said.

The Vikings’ defense did its part, too. It held the Chargers to 52 yards rushing, forced two turnovers on downs, and sacked quarterback Channing Martin four times. Down 20-0, Martin had to throw 28 times in the second half. He finished 21-of-36 for 199 yards, with one TD coming in the final minute.

“We were just trying to take away as many of their weapons as we could,” linebacker Austin Roberts said. “The quarterback was very good, we just tried to stop their run and then keep pressure on the passer.”

As a junior, Roberts was in the seventh grade when the Vikings last made the playoffs. None of this year’s Vikings were even on the varsity roster then.

“It feels excellent to get this one,” Gustavis said. “It’s a big deal for us to get to the playoffs and we did it by beating a good team.”

*

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com