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Warren Central Junior High players celebrate with the Little Six championship trophy after beating Brandon 26-7 in the conference championship game on Tuesday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High football player Jashad Williams (55) holds the trophy and talks to his team after they beat Brandon 26-7 on Tuesday to win the Little Six conference eighth-grade championship. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High players lift the Little Six championship trophy after beating Brandon 26-7 in the conference championship game on Tuesday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High players take the Little Six championship trophy to celebrate with their fans after beating Brandon 26-7 in the conference championship game on Tuesday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High football coach Louis Green talks to his team after they beat Brandon 26-7 on Tuesday to win the Little Six conference eighth-grade championship. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High players and coaches take a selfie with the Little Six championship trophy after beating Brandon 26-7 in the conference championship game on Tuesday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High players celebrate with the Little Six championship trophy after beating Brandon 26-7 in the conference championship game on Tuesday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The Warren Central Junior High eighth-grade football team poses for a photo after beating Brandon 26-7 in the Little Six conference championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central Junior High kept its magical season alive with a couple of thrilling victories. The final one was, refreshingly, a dominant romp.

Cameron Zellous threw a touchdown pass, and scored twice more on a kickoff return and a short run as Warren Central beat Brandon 26-7 on Tuesday to win the Little Six conference championship.

The Vikings’ eighth-grade team won its first Little Six title since 2014 and finished with a perfect 7-0 record.

“It feels great. The kids put in such hard work. These kids are amazing. The future of Warren Central football is very, very bright,” Warren Junior coach Louis Green said. “That’s what we’re so excited to see. We’re sending them over to Coach (Josh) Morgan and his staff, and that’s where boys become men. I think we have them headed in the right direction.”

Zellous threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Doss Morgan and scored on a 65-yard kickoff return to help the Vikings surge to a 20-7 halftime lead. He added his touchdown run in the second half.

Michael Davis also scored a rushing touchdown. Davis and Braylen Selvy had interceptions on defense.

Warren Central’s first six victories included one in overtime against Germantown, and another last week against Vicksburg in which it scored twice in the last three minutes to win 14-8.

“It’s not like we hadn’t seen hard games. We hadn’t always played in the front. We’ve played from behind. That goes to the kids’ fortitude. They just didn’t give up,” Green said.

Green, who is in his 12th season with Warren Central’s football program, added that this Little Six championship team reminded him of the one from a decade ago.

“We had a great bunch of kids then, and these kids remind me so much of them,” Green said. “They executed our game plan tonight flawlessly. We put in the preparation. I’m really not shocked because the kids wanted this so bad. I’m so happy for them.”

The preparation and hard work extended beyond the football field. Green said one of the little moments from Tuesday that put a smile on his face happened before the game, when linebacker Henry Trisby was finishing a homework assignment while chowing down on the team’s pregame meal.

“When I saw him doing his homework and trying to get it turned in on time, I knew we were headed in the right direction,” Green said. “When you put in so much work with them, and you believe in them trying to get them to believe in themselves, that’s what happens. These kids are very hard-working. They’re persistent.”

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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