For a long time, Warren Central has been one of the little brothers in the family of Mississippi boys high school soccer teams.

The Vikings were allowed to come to the playoff party, but they were little more than a pesky annoyance that the bigger kids had to deal with before running off to enjoy themselves when the good stuff got going.

At long last, however, they’re finally poised to stay up late.

Warren Central, which has not won a postseason game since 2010, will begin what it hopes is a long run in this year’s Class 6A playoffs when it hosts Desoto Central Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Vikings have a 17-3-2 record, homefield advantage in the first round for the first time in eight years, and for once a real sense that they’re a contender for the state championship instead of a plucky underdog challenger hoping to win a single game.

“If we can play mistake free, we’ve got a good shot. It’s going to be a close game whoever we play,” Warren Central coach Greg Head said. “We played Northwest Rankin tight. We played Brandon tight. We played Clinton tight. So we’re up there with them. It’s just going to be tough, because what they have that we don’t have is depth. I look on the bench and I might have one or two and they have six or seven players. They can wear us down on a big field.”

The newfound confidence stems from a strong track record this season against some of the state’s top teams. The Vikings beat perennial nemesis Clinton in a shootout to win the Division 3-6A title, tied state power Brandon, lost a close game to defending Class 6A champion Northwest Rankin, and beat several other teams with winning records.

Desoto Central (8-9-1) is not a team to overlook, but compared to the gauntlet they’ve run so far seems to be an opponent the Vikings can handle.

Warren Central is scoring an average of 3.8 goals per game, and defensively is allowing less than one per game. It has posted 11 shutouts. It has only allowed more than one goal in three of its 22 games.

“We have a better team and a chance of beating them this year. We’re a closer team than we’ve ever been. We all hang out together and are closer, and communicate better,” senior defender Treyce Keyes said.

The Vikings are also prepared for what lies beyond the first round, Head said. In addition to their tough schedule, they’ve gained valuable experience playing on artificial turf fields over the course of the season by playing a number of road games.

Tuesday’s first-round game will be on the natural grass surface of Viking Stadium, which is smaller and plays slower than turf. The markings on artificial fields are generally a few yards wider and the ball skips across it faster, which forces teams to play two different styles of soccer depending on the venue.

“We didn’t have a lot of home games because I wanted to play more on turf. So we’re ready to play on anything. Sometimes we play better on turf because we spread out more. Either way, we’ve played on enough fields it won’t matter,” Head said.

Warren Central’s girls’ team will open the playoffs Monday at 6 p.m. at Southaven (5-4-1).
The Lady Vikes (10-8) snapped a two-game losing streak by beating Provine 7-0 in their regular-season finale on Jan. 26.

CLASS 6A SOCCER PLAYOFFS
Girls: Warren Central at Southaven, Monday, 6 p.m.
Boys: Desoto Central at Warren Central, Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.