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Warren Central's Zack Evans (0) is tackled by Grenada's Jaeden Curry on a punt return during Friday's MHSAA Class 6A playoff game. Evans scored on a punt return in the first half, but Grenada won the game 24-7. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central defenders Dekasei Crump and Gavin Davenport (4) tackle Grenada running back Macaleb Taylor during Friday's MHSAA Class 6A playoff game at Viking Stadium. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central quarterback Nash Morgan (10) looks for a receiver during Friday's MHSAA Class 6A playoff game against Grenada. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Zack Evans (0) gets past Grenada defender Jereon Reed (43) on a 66-yard punt return touchdown in the first half of Friday's MHSAA Class 6A playoff game. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Grenada running back Macaleb Taylor (5) carries the football against Warren Central. Taylor rushed for 141 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries in the Chargers' 24-7 victory. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central offensive coordinator Rob Morgan talks to his team during Friday's 24-7 playoff loss to Grenada. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central football players celebrate after getting a turnover in the first half of Friday's playoff game against Grenada. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central running back Aden Greer (6) is tackled by two Grenada. defenders during Friday's MHSAA Class 6A playoff game at Viking Stadium. Grenada beat Warren Central, 24-7. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central running back Eric Collins Jr. (20) carries the football as Grenada's Zachary Townsend (21) closes in for the tackle. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Even as the game turned against them, it always felt like Warren Central was one big play away from getting back in it.

It never came.

Not a big play. Not a touchdown. Barely any first downs or even yards.

Grenada snuffed out everything the Vikings tried, and eventually did the same to their season. The Chargers forced five turnovers, held Warren Central to 58 total yards, and won 24-7 in the second round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs on Friday.

“It’s definitely not fun seeing your teammates cry like this and losing the way you did,” Warren Central senior center Beau Davis said. “It feels like you can’t get anything going, especially on offense. You go out there and get a first down and next thing you know you’re losing yards. It was like everything we tried to do, we took one step forward and two steps back.”

Grenada (10-3) will play South Panola (11-1) in the Class 6A semifinals on Nov. 24 in Batesville. It’s the first trip to the semifinals for Grenada since 2002. South Panola is there for the first time since 2014.

South Panola beat Neshoba Central 33-13 in its second-round game Friday.

The South Panola-Grenada winner will face West Jones or Picayune in the Class 6A championship game Dec. 1 in Oxford.

Warren Central (9-3) won the Region 2-6A championship, its first since 2004, and reached the second round of the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and seventh time in nine years. It has lost each time, and has not been to the semifinal round since 1994.

“You can’t let this game define you. I think we’re one of the best teams Warren Central has seen in a while. The stuff we’ve done this season is absolutely amazing,” Davis said. “While this game does suck, I do think we have one of the best teams Warren Central has ever seen and that’s something to be proud of.”

While this was a good, even great, Warren Central team, it was a horrific night at Viking Stadium.

The Vikings did not run a play on Grenada’s side of the field until their final possession, when less than two minutes remained in the game. They had as many turnovers (5) as first downs. Their only touchdown came on Zack Evans’ 66-yard punt return with 56 seconds left in the first quarter.

“(Grenada) did a good job. They were playing a shell around us on the perimeter and our passing game and they were able to stop the run with that box,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “We just couldn’t get our run game established, and they were sitting back waiting on it any time we tried to take shots.”

Despite the offense’s struggles, Warren Central’s defense kept it in the game until the final minutes.

Grenada scored on a 16-yard run by Macaleb Taylor on its opening series, and added a 27-yard field goal by Michael Cavanaugh and a 5-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Fair to Brayden Trusty in the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.

On Grenada’s second touchdown drive, the Vikings initially forced a field goal that was missed but they were called for running into the kicker. It led to a fourth-and-2 that Grenada converted when the Vikings jumped offside.

“We didn’t start the game like we wanted to,” Morgan said. “They drove the ball down the field and scored, and turnovers certainly didn’t help. Right before half when we hit the kicker and jumped offside, that stuff didn’t help. Grenada was the better team tonight, but those things surely didn’t help.”

The Chargers finished with a modest 239 yards of offense — Taylor ran for 141 on a whopping 36 carries — and used its dominating defense to control the game.

Three of Warren Central’s turnovers came on either the first or second play of a drive. A turnover on downs at their own 20-yard line, when the Vikings were in desperation mode in the fourth quarter, was essentially a sixth turnover inside their own territory. It led to a game-sealing 14-yard touchdown run by Latavien Pritchard with 2:19 left.

“It’s very frustrating,” Morgan said. “It wasn’t our night. To win these things you’ve got to have a really good football team and you’ve got to have some breaks. We didn’t have them tonight.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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