Warren Central made some strides last week against Northwest Rankin even though the end result was another loss. Tonight, the Vikings hope their continued improvement will result in a road win at Greenville-Weston.

The Vikings’ (1-3, 0-1 Region 2-5A) lone win this season came against Clarksdale in the Red Carpet Bowl season opener at Vicksburg High’s Memorial Stadium. Tonight’s game at Kerg Field kicks off at 7.

WC coach Curtis Brewer says his Vikings need to play with confidence.

“We need to play as good as we did against Northwest Rankin but also need to show more improvement on defense,” Brewer said. “We took a big step by getting our focus back and playing hard for all four quarters. We tried some new people on defense, and while we made some mistakes, I thought they did a good job.”

The Vikings had to scramble midway through the second quarter when they lost their top tackler Joe Harris with a foot injury. Zack Carter was moved to Harris’ spot at middle linebacker and the Vikings also used two new defensive ends in Danny Bunch and Josh Gustavis. Brewer said the Vikings could have Harris back for Greenville-Weston.

“Joe sprained his foot. He’s been cleared to play but we won’t know until kickoff. Zack was our leading tackler for the game. He did well, he just needs to read things better and get quicker. I thought Gustavis and our other ends helped us and we’re still trying to work some more sophomores up,” Brewer said.

Offensively, the Vikings had one of the better passing games of the season. Quarterback Keaton Sanders completed 12 of 24 passes for 132 yards. Senior flanker Cordell Valentine tied the Warren County single game receiving mark with 11 receptions.

Still, Brewer said he needs more points.

“We found out we can’t sit on a lead. We’ve got to produce more points. Cordell is the one guy we have to get the ball to and be able then to score for us,” Brewer said.

Valentine’s 11 catches matched his total for the previous three games. He now has 22 receptions for 261 yards. Sanders has completed 32 of 72 for 346 yards. Joel Forbes leads the ground game with 384 yards.

Greenville-Weston (0-5, 0-1) has a new coach in former Mississippi Valley State University coach Larry Dorsey. Dorsey coached Valley for 10 seasons (1989-98), compiling a 37-54 record.

“They run a 60 on defense and are very aggressive in it. Both the linebackers and linemen stunt. On offense they really like to run power out of the I-formation and mix in some I-flex and flex pro,” Brewer said. “They have a real athletic quarterback (Willie Calvin) who has a deep arm.”