Vicksburg’s Memorial Stadium is affectionately known as “The Swamp,” and on Friday, it resembled one. As sheets of rain pounded the field for hours leading up to kickoff, the 2014 edition of the River City Classic between Warren Central and Vicksburg turned into a muddy slosh soon after it started.

But the cleanliness of the two teams’ jerseys wasn’t the only thing affected by the rain. A combined 10 fumbles, two interceptions and an array of bad snaps hindered the production of both offenses in the less than ideal conditions.

Warren Central was able to do a much better job of controlling its mistakes while strolling to a 42-0 win. The Vikings lost two fumbles due to the wet conditions, but quarterback Alex Stevens used his athleticism to haul in a handful of high snaps that limited the potential damage.

“He did a good job of that. At halftime we got on our offense pretty good,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “We felt like we stalled on some drives, and we were glad to see them come out and respond the right way.”

Vicksburg, on the other hand, struggled mightily in its quarterback-center exchanges, which led to backbreaking turnovers that were easily converted into Warren Central scores.

After throwing an interception on the third play of the game that was quickly turned into a Warren Central touchdown, Gator quarterback Marquez Pickett lost a fumble when he was unable to corral an errant snap from his center. Warren Central recovered and scored two plays later.

On Vicksburg’s next possession, receiver Tedarius Brown couldn’t handle the handoff from Pickett on a jet sweep. The ball hit the turf, WC recovered, and the Vikings scored again three plays later for a 21-0 lead just over four minutes into the contest.

It was a sequence that knocked the breath out of Vicksburg’s sideline and set the tone for the rest of the game.

“They had the same conditions over there and they made some bad snaps, but their quarterback was able to get them,” Vicksburg coach Marcus Rogers said. “I need my quarterback to stop standing still, get in a little bit more athletic position, and make some plays.”

Rogers knows how sloppy conditions can affect a spread offense like the one he runs, especially one like Vicksburg’s that relies on many pre-snap movements.

“Center-quarterback exchanges, that’s big,” he said. “Especially in a spread offense where you’ve got motions going left and right, and misdirections. We’ve got to clean it up.”

At the end of the day, it was Warren Central’s ability to limit turnovers and handle the wet ball that allowed the team to hoist the rivalry trophy at midfield.

“Right out of the gate we were talking about ball security, and we were on the better half of that. It started off fast for us, so that was a big plus for us,” Morgan said. “It was a key to the ballgame. We did that and did a good job of it. We knew coming in that was going to be a factor.”