Warren Central never trailed in a pivotal region win over Neshoba Central Friday at home, but it took a Herculean effort on the part of the Vikings’ defense to maintain the upper hand.

Warren Central’s offense committed turnovers in its own territory on three consecutive possessions in the first half, but the defense stood strong each time as the Vikings went on to win 19-7.

Head coach Josh Morgan said his defense came through in spades to help the team clinch a playoff berth and move closer to its second consecutive MHSAA Region 2-6A championship. The Vikings (5-3, 3-0 Region 2-6A) can clinch the region title by beating Callaway next week at home.

“It was consistent. The most consistent thing we did tonight was put our defense in bad situations,” Morgan said. “But, we stood up. They were able to get one touchdown there that we wish we could’ve had back, but I can’t complain. They played with a lot of heart and toughness. There’s a lot of really good players on that side of the ball and they showed great resilience and really did a good job of keeping us in that game.”

Jonah Artman kicked a 29-yard field goal in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter, and also had a 32-yarder in the fourth. The two field goals gave Artman, a junior, 24 for his career to break the Warren County record set by WC’s Sam Thigpen from 1983-85. Thigpen had 23 field goals.

The Vikings extended a slim 3-0 lead on their first possession of the second half, with a 3-yard touchdown run from Aden Greer. A blocked extra point left the score at 9-0.

The Rockets finally capitalized on good field position early in the fourth quarter when Will Williams found Zach Ruffin through the air for a 15-yard touchdown to bring Neshoba Central within two points of the lead.

But the Vikings tacked on Artman’s second field goal, and an interception by Dekasei Crump set up a 27-yard rushing touchdown from Eric Collins Jr. with just over four minutes to play to seal the win.

Morgan said his offense will have to avoid the turnovers and high snaps that were consistent problems in Friday’s win, but added he was proud of how his players played through adversity.

“We were chasing some snaps and couldn’t get out of our own way, but I feel good about our running game and what we were able to do there. But we’ve got to clean it up in a hurry if we’re going to do what we want to do, which is go all the way.”