Leading by three points with four minutes left, Warren Central had an upset over Hattiesburg, ranked ninth in the latest AP prep football poll, in its sights.

But one defensive breakdown was enough to let Jamal Hatten break loose for a 97-yard touchdown run, and Hattiesburg escaped with a 17-13 win Saturday at Viking Stadium.

The Viking offense had just engineered a brilliant drive, kept alive by a churning run by Aaron Stamps on fourth-and-inches and capped by Michael Mason’s 32-yard field goal.

On the ensuing kickoff, Hattiesburg’s Tony Bridges tried to field the kick, fumbled and was hauled down on the 3-yard line.

Hatten took the shotgun snap on a zone read, faked the handoff and broke one tackle. Then it was a footrace that he easily won for a backbreaking 97-yard score that silenced the crowd.

“That quarterback is capable of making those type of plays and that was a game-breaking play,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “That’s what we were trying to contain for fourth quarters. He got running downhill and he made a heck of a play. It was really a backbreaker and I hate to see our guys lose on that play.”

Warren Central (1-2) had a final opportunity, needing a touchdown with just under three minutes to play. But on fourth down, quarterback Carlisle Koestler’s pass flew awry and the Tigers (3-0) were able to run out the clock.

The Vikings engineered a brilliant drive on their first possession, keyed by the running of Stamps. He capped a nine-play, 65-yard drive with an 8-yard run out of the power-I formation to put WC up early.

A short punt set up Hattiesburg with excellent field position at the WC 30, but the Vikings held firm and the Tigers were forced to settle for Evinn Watson’s 42-yard field goal.

In the second quarter, the two teams traded interceptions. Mike Williams made a bobbling grab of Hatten’s errant toss and two plays later, Koestler’s pass was picked off by Bridges, who returned it to the WC 27-yard line. Two plays after that, Hatten went 26 yards on a zone read keeper to give the Tigers their first lead of the contest.

With time winding down in the first half, WC was held to a three-and-out, but Bridges fumbled on the punt and WC recovered deep in Hattiesburg territory with 25 seconds remaining. Koestler barely overthrew Kourey Davis in the end zone and the Vikings were forced to settle for Mason’s 32-yard field goal.

The Tigers had their opportunities as well, as four touchdown runs were called back on penalties. Hatten threw two interceptions and Bridges had a fumble.

“We had too many turnovers and had four touchdowns called back and you can’t afford to give up four touchdowns in a game and let the other team stick around,” Hattiesburg coach Danny Nowell said. “They played a heck of a game and I didn’t think we played with emotion and intensity. We just had a great play by our quarterback, who willed us to a win.”