On a dark and stormy night, Warren Central’s defense came up with the kind of effort that had the whole team walking on sunshine.

The Vikings held Callaway to 194 total yards, forced three turnovers and had several key stops in a 23-20 overtime win Friday night in North Jackson.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak that dated to last September, and was just the fourth for WC in two-plus seasons. It also avenged a 36-35 overtime loss to Callaway last season, when the Chargers rolled up 547 yards of total offense and rallied late in the fourth quarter.

Callaway quarterback T.J. Washington rushed for 118 yards, five touchdowns and a game-winning 2-point conversion last in last year’s meeting. Friday night, he had 99 yards and two scores on 21 carries. His teammate, Chris Mitchell, completed 20 of 28 passes for 258 yards in a season-opening victory over Northwest Rankin. Warren Central held him to 3-of-7 passing for 36 yards. The Vikings also intercepted Washington twice.

“They did a good job. We didn’t really know what to expect with them playing two quarterbacks. They start one quarterback who throws for nearly 300 yards against Northwest Rankin and they play him a little bit, then they mix their option in with the other quarterback,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “Trying to contain those two exceptional athletes, along with their speed on the outside, for the most part we did good on.”

Warren Central’s biggest stops came in crunch time. Chris Stamps — who caught a 23-yard touchdown pass on offense late in the first half — intercepted Mitchell in the end zone with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter to preserve a 20-14 lead.

After Callaway scored on Washington’s 8-yard run with 56 seconds left to tie the score at 20, its coaches decided to go for a 2-point conversion. The snap went off Washington’s hands, and the WC defense eventually chased him out of bounds at the 10-yard line.

Then, in overtime, the Vikings (1-1) stopped the Chargers cold. Jabari Woodcox ran for no gain, then Dayall Harris was dropped for a 5-yard loss on second down. A false start penalty moved the ball back to the 20, and two passes by Mitchell were thrown into coverage and batted down.

The sequence set up kicker Michael Mason for a game-winning 23-yard field goal on WC’s possession.

“It was good to see them handle adversity. That’s how football is, and I thought we handled that a lot better than in week one,“ Morgan said. “It was good to see us make crucial plays down at the end to win it, and good to see us have some success. That’s a good Callaway team we beat tonight.”

The Vikings did get an assist from the elements. A steady rain fell throughout the game, leading to plenty of bobbled balls by both teams. Callaway had seven fumbles, and WC five. Warren Central lost two of its fumbles and Callaway just one, but Callaway still paid dearly for its mistakes.

A fumbled punt snap in the first half set up Aaron Stamps’ 2-yard TD run that gave WC a 7-0 lead. Two second-half fumbles short-circuited promising drives around midfield, and Washington’s drop on the 2-point conversion cost the Chargers a chance to win in regulation.

“Those conditions are tough to play in. It affected our offense, too,” Morgan said. “It’s just sloppy conditions. It’s another adversity, and I thought we handled it well.”