Warren Central sophomore Jonah Artman missed a PAT, had a field goal blocked, and got the wind knocked out of him before he stepped up and made a go-ahead field goal with less than a minute left Friday against Vicksburg.

Somehow, the best moment of his wild night was not the last bit of drama in another instant classic between the River City rivals.

After Artman’s 20-yard field goal put the Vikings ahead 19-18 with 1:04 remaining, they still needed a defensive stop to secure the victory. They finally got it when Zack Evans intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired to give Warren Central (5-2, 2-0 MHSAA Region 2-6A) its 12th consecutive victory over the Gators (4-3, 0-2).

“I saw the ball go up in the air and I saw him roll out, and I knew the game was over if I caught that,” Evans said. “It’s a sigh of relief. We worked hard all week to get this win. For us to have to fight to the end it made it even better.”

The game had a bizarre feel to it all night. The teams combined for four first downs in the first half, and more penalty yards (137) than total yards (101). Yet Warren Central still got out to a 16-6 lead at halftime after a fumble and a blocked punt set up the offense with short fields.

Ronnie Blossom scored on a 4-yard run and Eric Collins a 1-yard run for Warren Central. Artman also kicked a 40-yard field goal.

Vicksburg stayed in the game with its defense and special teams. Jadarius Henderson returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, and then Michael Johnson picked up a blocked field goal and took it 70 yards to the end zone to cut it to 16-12 with 1:16 left in the third.

“These games are different, and they’re unique. I don’t necessarily call it close to the vest, but you can’t make a lot of mistakes in this game. I know we shot ourselves in the foot to kill some drives,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “Defensively we were playing pretty good. The difference in the game was the early pick and the blocked field goal. Those are two things where we have to do a better job because it about cost us the game.”

Johnson’s blocked field goal return was the start of a wild final act to this chapter of the 43-year-old series.

Vicksburg put together its best — and first — drive of the night midway through the fourth quarter, an eight-play, 74-yard march capped by DeCorey Knight’s 3-yard TD run with 7:17 to go. Knight’s two-point conversion run was stuffed, leaving the Gators’ lead at 18-16.

Warren Central answered with its best drive. It kept the ball for more than seven minutes until going for Artman’s field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

Artman missed a PAT early in the game because of a low snap. He also took a hit on the blocked field goal that knocked the wind out of him. Finally, he had to make the pressure-packed kick twice because Vicksburg jumped offside and his first try was blown dead.

He knocked this one cleanly through the uprights to put Warren Central back in front, 19-18.

“I can’t say enough about Jonah. That’s a heck of a situation,” Morgan said. “He had just gotten off the field goal block and got the wind knocked out of him. I asked him if he could make it and he said, ‘Yes sir,’ and that’s what he did. That was not easy.”

Vicksburg’s explosive offense had the ball, however, and didn’t take long to get one last shot at pulling off a miracle. Senior quarterback Ronnie Alexander completed passes to Knight and Tyler Henderson, then scrambled for 13 yards to move the ball from the Vicksburg 31 to the Warren Central 28 with 10 seconds left.

On the game’s final play, the senior rolled to his left and threw a jump ball to Henderson in the front corner of the end zone. Henderson and Warren Central defensive back Roosevelt Harris both made a play on it, and the ball was tipped backward. Evans plucked it out of the air for the game-ending interception as the clock hit triple zeroes.

“I wanted to get a situation where we take a shot a shot and give (Henderson) a chance,” Vicksburg coach Christopher Lacey said. “He had a chance for the ball. I’m pretty sure it touched his hands first. We’ve just got to make that play.”

It was a difficult ending to swallow for the Gators. Their last three losses to Warren Central have been by a total of four points. This was also the second game in a row they’ve lost on a field goal with less than two minutes to go, after last week’s 21-20 loss to Neshoba Central in the region opener.

Lacey pointed to a number of mistakes throughout the game that were costly. The Gators had 16 penalties for 121 yards, including a holding call on the final drive that wiped out a big gain and cost them about 10 precious seconds on the clock.

The defense held Warren Central to only 174 total yards.

“Mistakes. It’s just mistakes. We’ve got to clean it up. I’ve been telling you that all year. It’s just the football stuff. We can go with anybody. We’ve just got to clean up our mistakes,” Lacey said. “We’re young, but we’re still expected to do our job. I’m proud of the way they fought, I’m proud of their effort. They did everything they possibly could to win this football game. We just have to fix our mistakes.”