From the first possession, it was apparent that Friday would not be Warren Central’s night.

The Vikings defense held Madison on its first drive to force a punt, but a roughing the kicker call gave the Jags the ball back. Five plays later, quarterback Jared Foster plunged in for a 1-yard touchdown.

It was the first of many mistakes WC made in a 20-9 defeat that has the Vikings at 1-2 in Region 2-5A and facing a Murrah team that lost to Clinton on Friday night.

&#8220We shot ourselves in the foot early,” WC head coach Curtis Brewer said. &#8220But I want to say that our defensive football team played their hearts out.”

Sean Elliott and Jeffrey Langston each recovered a Madison Central fumble, but the Vikings’ defense spent most of the game on the field. Brewer said on Wednesday that if the Jaguars were able to control the ball offensively, then WC would have an uphill climb.

Warren Central had five offensive drives of five plays or fewer and didn’t find the end zone until late in the fourth quarter on a Vic Tyrone 4-yard run.

Madison didn’t have such trouble as the team scored on its third possession of the game on a 4-yard Don Smith TD run. The quick tailback ran for 112 yards on 15 carries.

&#8220I was taking what the defense gave me,” Smith said. &#8220I just waited for everything to open up.”

Smith had 95 yards rushing at halftime – 39 more than the entire WC offense. WC sophomore tailback Joel Forbes recorded his second consecutive 100-yard game with 138 yards on 19 carries. He had 125 in a 40-0 win over Greenville last Friday.

But the offensive struggles that have ailed WC this entire season continued.

Warren Central drove the field on their first possession of the second half, trailing 14-0, and were set to go for a fourth-and-1 at the Madison 14, but a false start knocked WC back five yards. Eric Richards booted a 35-yard field goal to get the Vikings on the board.

WC then forced a Madison punt and had the ball on its own 35. On the first play, Tishawn Polk intercepted Keaton Sanders, which led to Foster’s second touchdown plunge to make the score 20-9. WC attempted five passes, misfiring on all of them.

&#8220The coaching is there and the effort is there, but the kids just didn’t make enough plays tonight,” Brewer said. &#8220We had trouble making drives.”

Madison ran for 173 yards and Foster completed 4 of 7 passes for 51 yards – the bulk coming on a 35-yard pass late in the fourth quarter.

Early in the game, Madison Central’s Chaz Ramsey, a highly touted lineman, was kicked out of the game after an unsportsmanlike conduct call.

Smith said the team used his ejection as a springboard.

&#8220That was a big loss for us,” Smith said. &#8220We had to rally around him and win this for him.”