[9/07/01]McComb would like to use last year’s loss as motivation against Warren Central tonight. Trouble is, there aren’t enough Tigers left who remember it.

After WC (0-1) beat the Tigers (0-1) last year, they went on to win the rest of their games, including the Class 4A state championship, to finish 14-1.

The bad news for coach Ted Milton is that he lost 18 starters from that team.

“Everybody was coming up and congratulating me, but I told them it may be condolences for a while,” said Milton, who took over as head coach last year.

He won’t get any sympathy from Viking headquarters.

“Well, we’re not going to feel sorry for them,” WC coach Robert Morgan said with a chuckle.

And he’s convinced that revenge will be a factor for the Tigers.

“I imagine they’ve still got that one stuck in their craw,” he said.

Last week’s loss to No. 6 Wayne County is still stuck in Morgan’s craw.

“That was the fewest yards I can ever remember us running for,” said Morgan, whose team ran for 48 yards on 25 carries and lost, 15-10, to drop from No. 7 to 20th in The Associated Press poll.

Still, the Vikings’ running game has Milton concerned.

“We’re strong against the run, but we don’t face this kind of power running game every week,” said Milton, whose team held Hattiesburg to 25 rushing yards.

The biggest player on his speed-oriented defense is 235 pounds while WC fullback John Hicks is 230.

“He’s a big, bruising runner, but he can bounce outside and hurt you, too,” Milton said.

The vulnerability of the Tigers’ young secondary combined with the ability of WC quarterback Brett Morgan “to get in the right plays at the right time” is another big concern, Milton said. “He throws the ball well and he’s just a great field leader.”

“I look for them to throw on us. We’re young and you could tell that last week on our defense, especially the secondary they got burnt.”

With three sophomores in the Tigers’ defensive backfield, Hattiesburg hit touchdown passes of 75 and 80 yards in a 27-6 win in both teams’ opener.

Take away the big plays, and McComb outplayed Hattiesburg, Morgan said after watching the film.

Morgan said he’s sticking to the usual game plan run first, throw second. That will help the team down the stretch, he said.

“If we don’t run the ball better than we did last week, we’re going to be in a mess,” he said.

The Vikings will be without senior receiver Kacy Jones, who is out for the season after breaking his leg in practice on Tuesday. He was WC’s top receiver as a junior.

“We’ll definitely miss Kacy,” Morgan said. “He’s a burner, and we don’t have enough of them.”

Larry King, Jason Williams and Eric Hamberlin will continue to rotate in his spot.

Quarterback Chad Lyons runs the Tigers’ offense, which is similar to the misdirection-based attack used at Delta State, Milton said.

Morgan said he will still do some tinkering to “get the best 11 out there.”

The kicking game and the defense, which didn’t allow a second-half point, were bright spots in last week’s loss, he said.

The offensive line needs work, but that’s expected because of the youth and inexperience there and because they “were playing as tough a defensive line as we’ll see all year,” Morgan said.

“We knew we’d make mistakes. We were just hoping we’d win and learn as we go.”