Warren Central started slow, but once it picked up steam it ran through Vicksburg High like a runaway train.

The Vikings scored five goals in an 18-minute span late in the first half and early in the second, and beat Vicksburg 7-0 on Tuesday.

Charlie Esparza had two goals and an assist, and five other players scored one goal each.

The Vikings were playing without center midfielder Luke Bond, a key ballhandler and their second-leading scorer. Coach Greg Head said Bond’s absence forced him to make some lineup and scheme adjustments that took time to get comfortable with.

“We took too long getting it started, but sometimes that happens. Once we got it started it was OK after that,” Head said. “We were missing our catalyst, Luke Bond. He’s sick, and without him it took a little while to get us going.”

Esparza scored in the third minute, but it took until the 28th for the dam to fully burst. Esparza scored again, then assisted Daniel Wescott for another goal in the 33rd to make it 3-0 at halftime.

On the other side of the break Nick Lee, Reed McClurg and Eriam Diaz-Mejias all scored within the first nine minutes of the second half to quickly push the lead to 6-0.

The Vikings didn’t score their seventh goal until the 75th minute, by Klein Leist, to end the game via the mercy rule.
Once the game got out of hand, Head said he took the opportunity to tinker with some different formations and lineups.

The Vikings outshot Vicksburg 18-3 and took six corner kicks. Vicksburg keeper Arthur Davis made six saves.

“We’re just working hard every day. We’ve got to get quicker, we have to get our touching a little bit better, and our passes are not there yet,” Head said. “So we’re constantly working on possession, moving the ball and finishing. Once we get into tight games, we’re not going to have that many shots.”

Warren Central (12-1-1, 4-0 MHSAA Region 2-6A) won its fifth game in a row and stayed a step ahead of Ridgeland (6-6, 3-1) in the region standings. The Vikings will host Columbus on Friday, and then won’t play again until Jan. 4 against Kosciusko.

Warren Central completed a season sweep of Vicksburg (1-10-3, 0-4) and clinched a playoff spot with Tuesday’s win. Head, though, has his sights set a lot higher than that.

“I know we’re going to make the playoffs. I want to win the district. That’s what our goal is,” Head said.

Vicksburg’s goals are a bit more modest. Its coach, Maurice Gilliam, said the Gators are just trying to get things moving in the right direction after a long downturn for the program as a whole.

The Gators have shown improvement this season — they lost 3-2 to Neshoba Central two weeks ago and will get another crack at them Friday — and been competitive in several other games.

“Just fix a few things and keep working at it,” Gilliam said. “We’re trying to focus on development. Everybody wants to win, but I feel like if we continue to develop then winning will come.”

Gilliam added that the Gators’ schedule was crafted with the idea of getting them to learn by doing. Friday’s road trip to Neshoba will be their 15th game in six weeks, and they’ll play seven more in 24 days in January.

“Every game we see improvement. From where we started to where we are now, I’m very proud of the boys,” Gilliam said. “I scheduled a lot of games this year so I can get that playing time, because the game is the best teacher. They held it as long as they could.”