FLOWOOD — Northwest Rankin started fast, Warren Central started slow. WC finished strong, but Northwest just plain finished.

Terrance Crosby ran for 88 yards and a touchdown, Drew Colson kicked two field goals, and Northwest Rankin outlasted WC in a defensive slugfest Friday night, 13-7.

Joel Forbes ran for 108 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries for Warren Central (1-4, 0-1 Region 2-5A), but the Vikings’ offense took a while to get on track and then plodded down the field against a tough Northwest defense. WC didn’t get a first down until the second quarter, missed a chance to score late in the first half, and couldn’t pick up first downs when it needed to in the fourth quarter.

“We just waited too late to start with our offense,” WC coach Curtis Brewer said. “Mistakes, mistakes. The biggest thing we did was waited too late to start making an effort. The answers are out there, but sometimes you wonder what the answer is.”

Warren Central has scored just 49 points in five games this season, but for one night at least it wasn’t alone as it struggled to move the ball. Neither team cracked 200 yards of total offense as they played their third straight low-scoring game against each other. Northwest (4-1, 1-0) has beaten the Vikings three straight times since 2005, and Friday’s 20 combined points was the highest total in any of them.

“This is a real good game. Every year it’s a close game. We just have to show up and play,” Crosby said. “It was hard for us to get in a groove. They threw a couple different defenses at us.”

Northwest looked like it might make it a blowout early, jumping out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead. Colson kicked a 27-yard field goal midway through the period, and Crosby made it 10-0 with a 4-yard TD run with 4 seconds left as the Cougars kept WC pinned down and took advantage of short fields.

Warren Central turned the tables in the second quarter, but didn’t have anything to show for it. A 16-play, seven-minute drive stalled at the Northwest 20-yard line with a minute to play, and Jared Thames’ 49-yard field goal attempt was blocked as time expired. The 16 plays were one less than Northwest Rankin ran in the entire first half.

Northwest took the second half kickoff and quickly moved deep into WC territory before stalling and settling for a 30-yard field goal from Colson. The defensive stop kept WC in the ballgame and seemed to give a spark to its offense.

Behind Forbes, WC marched 80 yards for a touchdown to get within a touchdown. Forbes carried the ball on seven of the drive’s 11 plays, including the capping 2-yard touchdown. Travis Bell contributed a pair of big runs as well, going up the middle for 12 and 14 yards.

The two scores were as close as either team got to making this a shootout, though. They traded three punts before WC finally got the ball back at its own 40 with 4:58 to play. Two short running plays and an incomplete pass left the Vikings facing a fourth-and-6 from their own 46 with about 3 1/2 minutes to play, and Brewer opted to call on the punt team.

WC had all of its timeouts, but never got the ball back. Northwest Rankin picked up two first downs and ran out the clock.

“We thought about it,” Brewer said of going for it on the fourth-and-6. “But we thought maybe the defense was playing well enough to get the ball back on the short end of the field. It was a gamble, and sometimes when you gamble you lose.”

Pelahatchie 14, St. Aloysius 6

One week after a dramatic win over archrival Natchez Cathedral, the St. Aloysius Flashes stumbled on the road, losing to Pelahatchie and falling to 2-3 on the season.

Chris Lewis connected on a 16-yard pass to Clayton Holmes in the fourth quarter for the Flashes’ only score. Lewis finished 10-for-19 with 163 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Lewis also ran for 48 yards on nine attempts. Brendan Beesley caught three passes for 67 yards.

The teams went into halftime scoreless, but the Chiefs scored 14 points in the third quarter and held the two-touchdown lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The road gets much tougher for the Flashes as they will travel to face defending state champion Puckett, the top-ranked team in Class 1A, next Friday night.

Hinds AHS 26, Loyd Star 19

Hinds AHS played with 13 fewer players than last week and came out with its first win of the season Friday night.

Coach Michael Fields dismissed 13 players from the team after a loss to Raymond and said that made the difference in an overtime victory over Loyd Star.

“This is not over for us, we still have a chance to make the playoffs,” Fields said.

Jeremy Taylor hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass in overtime and Chavez Johnson kicked the extra point as Hinds took a 26-19 lead. The defense did not allow a yard on Loyd Star’s possession and the War Dawgs snagged their first win.

Tensas 54, CENLA 20

Bennett Schauf ran for four touchdowns and threw for another as Tensas battered CENLA Christian.

Schauf threw a 33-yard touchdown to Mitch Lensing for an early lead, then the Chiefs recorded two safeties. Schauf then scored three straight touchdowns and the Chiefs led 26-8 at halftime. Hunter Hale, who ran for 106 yards on 11 carries, scored a third-quarter touchdown and J.T. James scored a touchdown run in the win.

WCCA 26, Tallulah 7

Brandon Beard caught nine passes for 124 yards and a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jess Shivers, but Tallulah allowed 20 second-half points in a 26-7 defeat.

The Trojans fell to 0-5 and are scheduled to host Trinity next Friday night.

Cason Landrum ran for 58 yards on 10 carries to lead the Tallulah running game. The Trojans led 7-6 at halftime.

MP 60, Lake Providence 42

Shaunta Houston threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as Madison Parish won a thriller over Lake Providence.

DeMario Wright ran five times for 185 yards and scored two touchdowns in one quarter. Antonio Harris caught one TD pass and ran for another, and Ray Perkins had two touchdowns in the win. Paxton Thomas Jr. hauled in a 55-yard scoring pass and DeQuincy Bingham had two interceptions for the Jaguars.