Warren Central and Starkville will clash with Region 2-6A hanging in the balance on Halloween night Friday, but only one of those teams will be dressed as a champion when the final whistle blows. The Vikings (8-1, 5-1) are hoping to get the bad taste out of their collective mouth left by a one-point loss to Clinton, and what better way to do so than squaring up against the No. 1 ranked team in Mississippi.

“We know what’s in front of us, which happens to be the No. 1 team in the state and one of the top-ranked teams in the nation. We still have a chance to do a lot of good things,” WC coach Josh Morgan said. “We just want to get better, and we want to get that taste out of our mouth, and we want to play better.”

The Yellow Jackets are perhaps the most complete team in Mississippi, one that can air the ball out for quick scores, pound it up the middle to control the clock and bust teams in the mouth with a hard-hitting defense.

The Jackets are not just dominating opponents. They’re disintegrating them into fine powder. Starkville’s lowest win margin this season has been 23, and Jaime Mitchell’s squad has pitched four shutouts in its last five games. The No. 1 team is averaging over 250 yards passing and 150 rushing per game behind quarterback Brady Davis, who has thrown for 2,220 yards and 27 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason. They have no weaknesses,” Morgan said. “They are loaded on all positions. They have weapons all over the field offensively. They have a quarterback who is probably the best in the state. They go on and on and on.”

But while he may be facing the most complete team in the state, Morgan knows he has to focus more on his team right now than the one lining up against him. The Vikings committed two costly turnovers last week against Clinton and at times struggled in the trenches, something they will have to resolve to compete Friday to stay in the conversation for a region title.

“Winning this game puts us right back in the conversation of a championship, but our main focus right now is we’ve got to play better,” he said. “We’ve got to play better from the first snap to the last, and we’ve just got to do some things better. We’re looking at ourselves.”

So while Warren Central will head up the state on Halloween night for the scariest matchup of the season, the team is preparing to slip into Starkville and spoil the holiday for Starkville.

“We’ve got to be more efficient, we’ve got to cause more turnovers defensively and we’re fixing to play just an absolutely great team in Starkville. They’re good in all three faces and probably the toughest defense we’ve seen so far,” Morgan said. “We’re going to take our bunch up there and try to play the best game that we can play, play with a lot of heart, play together and see what happens.”