FLOWOOD — Warren Central was seconds away from not only one of the biggest playoff upsets in recent memory in Mississippi high school soccer, but one of the biggest wins in the program’s history.

In an instant it — and all of the joy, satisfaction, and adventure it would bring — was cruelly snatched away.

Peyton Ratcliff scored the game-tying goal during regulation stoppage time, and then Dalton Rogers got the game-winner with two minutes left in the second overtime period as Northwest Rankin beat Warren Central 3-2 in the second round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs on Monday night.

“It’s heartbreaking when these kids play this hard and come this close to beating a team that’s No. 1 or 2 in the state and have it taken away in the last minute,” Warren Central coach Greg Head said. “But the kids need to hold their head up. They played a heckuva game and I’m proud of them. We had chances to win. We scared the heck out of them. And they know they got away with one.”

Northwest Rankin (20-1-2), the defending Class 6A champion, advanced to the state semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons. It has a record of 104-11-6 in that span, and will face Madison Central for the North State championship on Wednesday.

Madison Central beat Clinton 3-0 in another quarterfinal game Monday.

Warren Central (18-4-2) more than held its own against the mighty Cougars, but still had its best season in nearly a decade come to an end. The Vikings reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2010, and just the second time since 2004, and also posted their highest win total in at least two decades.

“It’s about playing for respect, and hopefully we earned some of that tonight. People will see the score and may not realize just how close of a game it was and that we almost won,” Head said. “I’m proud of the guys. We have five seniors and three of them start, so we have a lot of young guys on the team. We’re carrying this over. We’re tired of being the little boys that the big boys see while they’re toning up for the playoffs. We’re going to be a tough team. We have a lot of young talent coming up.”

Warren Central didn’t just hang with Northwest Rankin, it outplayed them for most of the first half.
The Cougars got the game’s first goal, by Chris Rodrigo, in the 28th minute but WC’s Braylen Greer tied it in the 34th. Greer made an electrifying run up the left side of the field, skillfully maneuvering through five defenders before finally banking a shot in off the far post.

At halftime, the teams had three shots apiece and the score was tied 1-1.

“They were great tonight,” Ratcliff said of the Vikings. “They played better tonight than they’ve ever played when we’ve played against them. They played hard. We’re used to playing teams that like to keep possession, and they just go for it. They’re at you for 100 minutes a game. You don’t have time to breathe. They came out flying.”

The score remained tied until the 69th minute. A Warren Central free kick bounced around for a moment before Greer gained control, wheeled and sent a grounder into the left side of the net to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.

The WC sideline erupted, but Northwest Rankin went into desperation mode and ratcheted up the offensive pressure. A header banged off the crossbar in the 76th minute and a follow-up shot went high over the goal, an eerie preview of what was to come moments later.

The scoreboard clock stopped counting down at two minutes, and the last stretch turned into an eternity for the Vikings. About 3 ½ minutes later, a long throw-in from the right sideline led to a scrum in front of the net. WC keeper Chase Graham blocked a shot and fell down as the rebound caromed off his hands. As the defense broke down in front of the net, Ratcliff corralled the ball and shot into the open right side for the miracle equalizer.

“The ball just came in. Our big guy, Houston (Smith), flicked it and I thought it was in. Then he slapped it out and it caught me off guard a bit when it was coming at me. I looked at the keeper and he was on the ground and I just passed it over him. And then when I realized it went in and it counted, and there wasn’t a foul or anything, it was a huge weight off my shoulders,” said Ratcliff, a William Carey signee. “I thought we dominated the overtimes and once we got that goal we realized this game was ours to take.”

Head and the Vikings complained to the officials about the amount of stoppage time, to no avail. Head said the extra time was likely added while Warren Central made a slow substitution earlier in the half. The teams played for another minute and change after Ratcliff’s goal before the whistle blew to send it into overtime.

“They hold the time. When the clock stops at two (minutes), you really don’t know how much time has ticked off. Maybe it was two or three minutes, maybe they did give them a minute, I don’t know,” Head said.

Dejected and deflated, the Vikings never seemed to recover. They held the line through the first 10-minute overtime period and most of the second, although Northwest Rankin controlled most of the possession and had the bulk of the scoring chances.

Finally, in the 98th minute, they cracked. Ratcliff fed a pass up the left side to Rogers, who made his way inside the 10-yard line. He shot across the goal and sneaked the ball inside the right post for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

“I called the ball. I saw Peyton had it and I had the open spot. He played it and I had a good first touch on it. I saw their keeper was hurt early in the game. He came out and I saw an opening backside and just played it in,” Rogers said.

The ending was a bitter pill to swallow for Warren Central. It lost to Northwest Rankin for the fifth consecutive time — and second time this season — although most of the games have been competitive.
Monday’s game was about earning respect as a state championship contender as much as simply beating a perennial nemesis and advancing in the playoffs. The latter will have to wait until next season, but Head said he felt the Vikings accomplished the former.

“Everybody is in for a rude awakening. We’re going to take what we started this year and continue on. We are not going to have a bad year,” Head said. “We work hard every year to get up there in the top tier, and they’re going to have to start looking at us more. We’re not even in the top 10 and we just stayed with the top team. When you get no respect, you’ve got to play hard and play with teams like this to get that respect.”