The Vicksburg Gators have reached the point in the soccer season where they could easily mail in games and try to get to the end.

With a week left, the playoffs are a long-forgotten possibility. They haven’t won a game all season, and haven’t scored in their last three outings. None of those realities changed Friday night, when the Gators lost 4-0 to Germantown, but they also showed they’re not ready to give up just yet.

The Gators played solid defense against a team that had beaten them 10-0 three days earlier and goal keeper Haden Luke made a dozen saves against steady pressure.

“Phenomenal effort tonight. They came out, they worked hard the whole game, they were tired and fought through it,” Vicksburg coach Destin Ellis said. “We’ve had a lot of adversity this year. We had eight people come out for tryouts. We’re just trying to rebuild the program. The effort they put out tonight, you get excited to rebuild on that.”

Germantown (10-5-1, 5-1 Division 4-5A) was never in danger of losing after Rusty Nesbit scored two goals in less than two minutes midway through the first half. Matthew Bryson assisted on the first one, in the 20th minute, and Alex Parsa assisted on the second in the 21st.

Jacob Trim scored on a breakaway after intercepting a goal kick in the 48th minute to make it 3-0, and Parsa got a goal of his own in the 65th minute. Germantown had the ball deep in VHS territory for most of the second half, but the Gators’ defense held firm and kept the game competitive rather than allowing it to turn into a blowout.

“They started shifting, they started hustling,” Ellis said of his defenders. “When we played them Tuesday we were trying to draw them offsides and they would beat us and we would just stop. We gave up a lot of goals to them. To turn it around like this is nice.”

The Mississippi High School Activities Association extended the regular season by one week, and Vicksburg (0-15-2, 0-6) has added three games as it chases an elusive victory. It will play at Greenville on Monday and at Forest on Thursday, before wrapping up the season next Friday at home against Terry.

The Gators and Greenville played to a 1-1 tie on Dec. 2. That result, and Friday’s strong performance, gave Ellis and the Gators hope that their winless streak could end before the season does.

“It’s tough, but they’ve got good attitudes and high spirits. Even though we lost they’re ready to go,” Ellis said. “It’s a good confidence booster.”

In the girls’ game Friday, Germantown beat Vicksburg 11-0.

(B) Warren Central 7, Provine 1

Braylen Greer scored four goals in less than 30 minutes of playing time as Warren Central (16-3-2, 3-0 Division 3-6A) routed Provine (0-7-2, 0-3) on Thursday night to clinch its first division championship since 2010.

Hank Holdiness gave Warren Central a 1-0 lead by scoring off an assist from John William Madison just 37 seconds into the game. Ninety seconds later Holdiness assisted on Greer’s first goal as the Vikings started feeding their teammate the ball in an effort to give him the school’s single-season goals record with 28. He finished one short, although WC still has at least two games remaining.

Greer scored again in the 13th, 19th and 27th minutes, and then was pulled along with the rest of the starters after his final goal made it 6-0.

“The other players kept feeding him the ball to help him reach that goal. They knew they would be pulled after six goals,” WC coach Greg Head said.

Josh Griffin also scored in the 17th minute, and Barrington Barnes had a goal in the second half. Holdiness and Brady Green finished with two assists apiece.

Warren Central had clinched a playoff berth with an overtime win over Clinton on Tuesday, but still needed to beat Provine to officially wrap up the division championship.

(G) Warren Central 7, Provine 0
Six different players scored goals for Warren Central and five had assists as it wrapped up a berth in the Class 6A playoffs by beating Provine on Thursday night.

Anna Bull, Bree Butler, Laney Smith, Emily Powers, Cassidy Lampkin and Jayda Griffin all scored for the Lady Vikes. Warren Central outshot Provine 20-1 and scored three times in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Sarah Prescott, Abby Claire Fuller, Laney Smith, Taylor Smith, Natalie Greer and Meagan Garner all had one assist.

Warren Central will finish the regular season Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Pearl.