WC soccer sweeps Greenville

Published 11:04 pm Saturday, January 14, 2017

Warren Central cleared the bench, flipped the scoreboard, and started its playoff preparations with a rollicking win over Greenville on Saturday afternoon.

Nine players scored goals — including several backups and some defenders who were shifted to offense as the game got out of hand — as the Vikings blasted Greenville 10-0 in a boys’ soccer matinee at Viking Stadium.

Raymond Rimmey, normally a backup goal keeper, was the only Warren Central player who scored twice. Brandon Fisher had a goal and an assist, Braylen Greer had a goal and two assists, and Sean Dixon had two assists.

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Also scoring goals were Jacob Cochran, Graham Tweedle, Karsten Keyes, Hunt Holdiness, John William Madison and Shomar Lott.

“I wanted to get the little kids in and let them play. I pushed up some defenders and let them get a goal. Today was about letting the younger kids play,” Warren Central coach Greg Head said.

Warren Central (12-3) clinched a playoff berth with its 7-1 win over Murrah on Friday night, and Saturday’s game did not count in the Division 4-6A standings. WC and Greenville’s game in December — a 10-0 win for WC win — did count, and only one meeting between each division team goes toward the division record.

That made Saturday’s game a friendly and a chance for Warren Central to turn an eye toward a playoff showdown with the state’s top-ranked team, Northwest Rankin, on Jan. 24.

Even while clearing the bench, Head said he was tinkering with some different formations that will help generate more offense against Northwest Rankin. The Vikings lost 1-0 when they played the Cougars in early December.

Warren Central scored three goals in the first five minutes against Greenville, and six goals in the first 18 minutes.

“Last night and tonight was a good tune up,” Head said. “We were trying to increase our scoring opportunities, and so we worked on our angle runs and switching fields. We worked the ball well and it paid off.”

Also on Saturday, Warren Central’s seventh- and eighth-grade team beat Brandon 3-0.

(G) Warren Central 7, Greenville 0

Kallie Page, Emily Bull, Sarah Prescott and Destiny Shettles each had a goal and an assist as Warren Central’s girls’ soccer team shut out Greenville.

Addie Hale, Maddie Watkins and Layken Stockstill also scored goals for the Lady Vikes, and Natalie Greer had one assist. Warren Central outshot Greenville 23-0.

(G) Warren Central 2, Pearl 1

Laney Smith scored two goals in the second half to lift Warren Central (9-7-1) to a win over Pearl in the second half of a Saturday doubleheader at Viking Stadium.

Smith scored on a penalty kick in the 48th minute to tie the game at 1, and then got the go-ahead goal off an assist from Maddie Watkins in the 67th minute.

Backup goal keeper Anna Katherine Hoben made four saves for WC before leaving the game with an injury in the second half. Starter Layken Stockstill, who also played the first half, replaced her and finished with eight total saves.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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