At times Friday night, Red Carpet Bowl committee chairman Rickey Mitchell looked as if he wanted to play football again.

He got into near 3-point stances while trying to stretch his legs. The former Vicksburg running back got no playing time, but did fight through an aching back to oversee the signature event in a series dating back 44 years.

It was the 43rd playing of the Red Carpet Bowl, but Mitchell pointed out that the one year the game was not played, scholarship money was still doled out.

This year’s RCB drew overflow crowds of WC and Vicksburg High fans. A smattering of fans from both Memphis Kirby and Indianola Gentry made the trek south.

Kirby and Gentry have a limited football pedigree and Mitchell said he and the committee are working to bring in more attractive matchups for both Vicksburg and Warren Central. WC defeated Kirby 37-0 and Vicksburg smacked Gentry 42-19. Neither team was threatened.

In past years, the RCB has attracted such teams as Wayne County, Gulfport and John Ehret from New Orleans.

The two Red Carpet matchups capped an eventful and oftentimes odd weekend of football in the county.

Nothing more strange than Porters Chapel’s journey to Heidelberg, which included a collision with a couch on Interstate 20. A Bus Services Corp. bus plowed through a couch that had fallen onto the roadbed.

The impact was so hard that part of the couch went through the front of the bus and into the stairwell, athletic director Chris Busby said Saturday afternoon.

The collision did not lead to any injuries and the Eagles continued their trip to Heidelberg, where they pitched a shutout in the first game of the season.

Coach Randy Wright said the bus, a charter, was in the left lane in Pearl doing 75 mph and the team was watching a movie. Out of nowhere the couch appeared and the bus driver had about 100 yards to react. With a car in the right lane and a steep median on the other side, the bus plowed through the couch.

The impact knocked the hydraulic door off track leaving it partially open. When the bus stopped, coaches removed the leg of the couch from the stairwell and began beating the door with a hammer until they were finally able to close the door completely.

The team was about 50 minutes behind schedule, but the game started on time.

During a trip to Greenville Christian last season, the school’s bus had a tire blow out, so PCA players and coaches are used to a little turmoil on roadtrips.

&#8220If we can ever get to a game without anything happening, we won’t know how to react,” Wright said.

Warren Central took care of Kirby quickly Friday evening, taking a 24-0 lead into halftime. Warren Central threw five passes all game and wore down an overmatched Kirby team with a relentless running game.

All-State kicker Eric Richards kicked nearly all his kickoffs into the end zone, had three field goals and four extra points.

The Vikings’ road gets tougher in a hurry next week when Grenada will travel to Viking Stadium. Grenada defeated Greenwood 55-6 Friday night. Quarterback DeMarcus Tidwell threw four touchdown passes in the win.

Vicksburg unleashed its deadly offensive arsenal in a blowout of Gentry. Stanton Price threw for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns to John Qualls.

Eight different Vicksburg High runners got at least one carry and five different receivers made catches.

The Gators also debuted the kicking of soccer player Michael Cooper. He drilled six straight extra points and continually drove the ball deep on each kickoff.

Like WC, Vicksburg’s road gets tougher with Natchez at Memorial Stadium on Friday. The Bulldogs had fallen on hard times recently, but the Bulldogs are coming off a 70-0 shellacking of Port Gibson.

Jason Bruce ran for three touchdowns and threw for four more in the Friday night massacre. The Bulldogs led 56-0 at halftime.

St. Aloysius, still celebrating after a 12-7 win over Natchez Cathedral, will aim to stop St. Andrew’s explosive back Bradford Blackmon. The Saints’ senior scored his 77th and 78th career touchdowns in a 44-29 win over Yazoo City.