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Warren Central receiver Michael Hall tries to break away from the grasp of Madison Central linebacker Avery jackson (44) during Friday's game. Hall caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, but Madison Central beat the Vikings 34-24. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's 2024 homecoming queen Adria Burrell stands alongside her father, Adrian Burrell, after being crowned before Friday's football game at Viking Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Madison Central receiver Zadarran Hart (13) blocks Warren Central defensive back Stanley Doyle (29) during Friday's game at Viking Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central assistant football coaches Jeff Scott and Rob Morgan share a pregame hug before Friday's game against Madison Central. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central defenders, including Gavin Davenport (4) tackle a Madison Central runner during Friday's game at Viking Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Members of Warren Central's ROTC stand at attention during the playing of the national anthem before Friday's football game against Madison Central. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central quarterback Nash Morgan (10) prepares to throw a deep pass Friday against Madison Central. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Madison Central defensive back Marquis Williams (4) intercepts a pass Friday against Warren Central. Williams had two interceptions as the Jaguars won the game 34-24. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Madison Central got a few breaks, made a few of its own, and used every single one of them to spoil Warren Central’s homecoming party.

Marquis Williams had two interceptions that set up short scoring drives, and the Jaguars scored twice in the last 2:12 of the first half to gain some separation as they beat Warren Central 34-24 on Friday.

“It was freakish stuff happening to us,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “I thought we stopped the run really good. They had some things happen to them, and sometimes football is whose night is it? It seemed to be their night with the plays that were being made.”

Warren Central (2-3) lost its second game in a row — its first back-to-back losses since midway through the 2021 season — with some unusually sloppy play.

Besides the two turnovers, the Vikings committed 10 penalties that cost them 110 yards. Two holding calls in a span of three plays negated decent gains on a crucial drive in the fourth quarter when they only trailed 31-24. It ultimately led to a fourth-and-18 situation that they couldn’t convert, and Madison Central took advantage of a short field to kick a clinching 34-yard field goal by Ross Beavers with 1:14 remaining.

“It was crucial situations and led to extending drives. It was a big part of this game,” Morgan said of the penalties. “We’ve got to do a better job of doing what we do, because that’s our identity. And to win like that you have to be so precise and executing at a high level. You can’t turn the ball over, you can’t get penalties, you can’t get behind the chains. We have to do a better job being the best version of ourselves.”

The game turned on the closing moments of the first half. With the game tied 10-10, Madison Central quarterback Jaiden Johnson threw a deep pass that his receiver and WC defensive back Dekasei Crump both jumped for at the goal line. It was deflected, and Zadarran Hart made a diving catch in the back of the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown with 2:12 to go.

Three plays later, Williams intercepted a Nash Morgan pass at the WC 25-yard line. It led to a 5-yard TD pass from Johnson to Glen Singleton with 49 seconds left that put the Jaguars ahead 24-10.

Madison Central also scored a touchdown in the first half on a double pass from Hart to Ryan Delaney.

“The way they finished the first half got them some separation,” Josh Morgan said. It was a tight game, back and forth, the way we expected it to be. I thought we came out and played better defensively the second half. But that’s where your separation came from and we couldn’t catch them.”

Warren Central got one of the scores back on a 2-yard run by Aden Greer late in the third quarter.

Williams picked off another pass early in the fourth, however, and returned it 31 yards to the WC 17-yard line. Johnson hit Delaney for a 17-yard touchdown two plays later to push the lead back to 31-17.

Warren Central pulled to within one score again on Nash Morgan’s 30-yard TD to Michael Hall on the next series. Its penalty-filled final drive ended its chances of a comeback, though.

Nash Morgan finished with 178 passing yards for the Vikings. Hall caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, and Jaylon Winters caught four for 70 yards.

Eric Collins Jr. added 88 rushing yards, with most of it coming on a 65-yard TD early in the game.

Johnson was 16-of-22 passing for 212 yards and three touchdowns for Madison Central (4-1). Singleton had 130 total yards — 73 rushing and 57 receiving — to go with his short receiving TD.

Warren Central won’t play again until Oct. 11 in its MHSAA Region 2-6A opener at Ridgeland.

“We have to be consistent with what we’re doing. You can see glimpses of us doing really good things. We had some things that went against us that I don’t agree with, and that doesn’t help, but no excuses,” Josh Morgan said. “We’ve got to be more consistent and finding that. We’ve got to keep getting better and I think we are. We’ve got a whole other season that’s in front of us.”

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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