Many times teams will take it easy during spring games and really just coast through the matchup, but someone must’ve forgotten to let the Vikings know the regular season hadn’t started yet.

In a 31-20 victory over Brandon in their spring game Thursday, Warren Central came out bursting with energy in the second half and pulled off a miraculous comeback after being down 20-7 in the first half.

“We did some good things and some bad things, typical stuff, but we watched our kids overcome a lot of adversity,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “We watched them play winning football in the three stages — offensively, defensively and on special teams — and got to put them in great situations tonight trying to win a close game against a great team. So I was glad to see our mental toughness, I was glad to see us execute down the road and make plays to win the game.”

The Vikings looked a little disoriented to begin the game. They are replacing 10 starters this season, and that inexperience showed in the secondary, as Brandon was able to pull off several long touchdowns to give them an early advantage.

Brandon’s first score came on a third-and-33 from their own seven-yard line, when Joshua Montague broke a few arm tackles and a screen pass and split the defense to take it 93 yards to the house.

Brandon wasn’t done, as soon after wide receiver Ladarius Moore turned an intermediate pass into an 86-yard touchdown after a few shifty moves to dodge Viking defenders. Brandon later went back to the screen pass, but this time to star receiver Jonathan Mingo, who hit a seam and took it for a 17-yard score.

“They scored on three big plays early in the first half, and that was something that we can clean up,” Morgan said. “It was not good to see, disappointed in it, two of them were screen plays. So again it’s tough but we will clean up and have to be better tackling in the open field.”

The difference maker for Warren Central was running back Jerry Stovall, who tore up the defense to the tune of 220 yards and all four of the Vikings’ touchdowns on just 23 carries. Stovall’s 17-yard touchdown with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter gave them their first lead in the game, and  he effectively put the game out of reach when he found pay dirt again on a 30-yard touchdown with 3:11 remaining in the game.

Morgan said Stovall took on a workman-like load of the offense during the spring.

“He’s had a great spring,” Morgan said. “He stepped up and really came on last year as a sophomore. With Corey Wilson out right now rehabbing his knee, Stovall has really stepped up and taken a big role. He did what he was supposed to do and what we thought of him, and other than that one fumble he had, I thought he had an outstanding day.”

Morgan said that once Wilson returns as well, their backfield would be multi-faceted, possibly splitting carries between four backs to give their team harder looks for the defense to defend.

At the other spot in the backfield, Shane Lewis started at quarterback and completed 8-of-22 passes for 124 yards and two interceptions, though his receivers did record several drops.  

“We’ve got some new guys stepping into new roles and quarterback is one of them. I thought Shane ran the team well, threw some good balls, and also Antonio Thompson did not play today but he will be in that mix,” Morgan said. “I’m excited about having them both to work with and do multiple things with. It makes us harder to defend.”