Warren Central has always prided itself on winning football games with a complete effort in all three phases of the game.

On Friday, it found out the harsh flip side of the coin and what happens when there are mistakes and assorted disasters on offense, defense and special teams.

Warren Central lost three fumbles, failed to score on three drives inside the 5-yard line, allowed a long touchdown run, and had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. It all added up to the team’s first loss in the Red Carpet Bowl in nearly a decade, 26-20 to longtime rival Clinton.

“We didn’t play well enough to win by any means, and still had a chance to win. They didn’t turn the ball over and we did a lot. Snaps, blocking a punt and holding it too long, not getting in … a lot of it was us,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “It didn’t look like us. It really surprised us. We hadn’t looked like that at all, to be honest with you.”

Clinton running back Jakobe Williams rushed for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, but the Arrows took a commanding lead with a pair of quick lightning-bolt scores to start the third quarter.

Quarterback Josef Walker ran 72 yards on a broken play, first escaping the pocket and then somehow avoiding a half-dozen tacklers on his way to the end zone.

On Warren Central’s ensuing series, a three-and-out ended with a punt deep in its own end. Ashton Nichols blocked it, recovered it at the 3-yard line and ran in for a touchdown. The PAT gave Clinton a 26-10 lead with 9:30 left in the third quarter.

Warren Central got some of it back when Jonah Artman kicked a 46-yard field goal, and Jadarius Miller scored on a 3-yard run with 7:23 left in the fourth quarter to cut it to 26-20.

Warren Cental had to punt on its next series, though, and its final drive ended with a fumble at the Clinton 37-yard line with less than two minutes to go.

Another fumble killed a drive inside the 5-yard line in the first half, and the Vikings were stopped at the 1 twice in the second half.

“The reason we were in those fourth down spots was because we weren’t good enough on first and second and third down. We’ve just got to be better across the board,” Morgan said.

Warren Central quarterback Nash Morgan was 20-of-29 passing for 241 yards. He also caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Lynch on a reverse throwback play in the first quarter.

Artman kicked two long field goals, a 44-yarder in the second quarter and his 46-yarder in the third. Maddox Lynch had eight receptions for 107 yards.

The Vikings lost in the Red Carpet Bowl for the first time since 2015. They’ll host Pearl next Friday at 7 p.m.

“We’ll get better from this game,” Josh Morgan said. “We gave ourselves a chance and kept fighting. After all of that, that’s about as much as you can ask for.”