The Yellowjackets killed Warren Central’s buzz.

Willie Gay rushed for 319 yards and five touchdowns as Starkville knocked off Warren Central 35-28 on Friday night and turned the Region 2-6A playoff race upside down.

Five teams — Warren Central, Starkville, Madison Central, Clinton and Northwest Rankin — will head into the final week of the regular season fighting for four playoff spots and seeding. Clinton and Madison Central clinched their spots with wins Friday, but have not determined their seeding yet.

Warren Central (8-2, 4-2 Region 2-6A) also clinched a playoff berth despite its loss. No matter what happens, the Vikings will finish no worse than fourth once a bevy of tiebreakers are sorted out. They do need to beat Callaway at home, however, to avoid a fourth-place finish that would send them to undefeated and top-ranked Tupelo in the first round.

All of the craziness is thanks largely to Gay, a senior linebacker who before Friday night had not touched the ball on offense this season.

Playing quarterback, Gay ripped off touchdown runs of 10 and 19 yards to put the Yellowjackets (7-3, 4-2) ahead 14-7 late in the second quarter. He had 165 yards — three yards short of the most by any Starkville player in a game this season — by halftime.

Warren Central tied it just before halftime, but Gay scored on a 59-yard run early in the third quarter as the teams started trading touchdowns.

Jesse Wilson threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Jones to tie it at 21, and then Gay answered with touchdown runs of 18 and 7 yards to put Starkville ahead 35-21 with 7:47 left in the game.

Warren Central drew close yet again with a 12-yard run by Jones on its next possession, and then forced a punt with less than two minutes to go. It was muffed, however, and Starkville recovered and ran out the clock.

Wilson finished with three touchdown passes for the Vikings, who had beaten top-ranked Clinton last week but couldn’t sustain the momentum. In addition to Jones’ 34-yard TD reception, Shaun Walton caught a 90-yarder and Corey Wilson Jr. a 55-yarder.