In a football season full of good things, one of the best that happened to Warren Central might have been a humiliating defeat.

A mistake-filled loss to Clinton in their opener served as an eye-opener for the Vikings. They went back to work and made the necessary adjustments to ensure it didn’t happen again — and it rarely did.

A seven-game winning streak brought home the MHSAA Region 2-6A championship and a trip to the Class 6A semifinals. It also earned the man steering the ship, Josh Morgan, The Vicksburg Post’s Warren County Coach of the Year award.

Morgan earned the honor for the eighth time in his 15 seasons on Highway 27, but deflected credit to his entire coaching staff and players for the long-term success.

“We’ve got a great staff. The thing about our staff is all of us are aligned. We are all pulling in the same direction and it makes all the difference in the world,” Morgan said. “It’s amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit. Everybody understands their role, how we all align, and our goals and how we do things. Our coaches are top-notch. Our kids around here are mighty lucky to have them.”

The Vikings were riding high heading into their season opener against Clinton in the Red Carpet Bowl in August. They’d won the Region 2-6A title in 2023 and had most of a talented roster returning.

That good feeling evaporated quickly. 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 in a 26-20 loss that forced them to take a hard look in the mirror.

“In football games, you don’t play well and you lose some. What we try to focus on is how we respond, and we chose to get better from it. We had hard conversations, hard coaching, and the players knew that they could do better and we could be better,” Morgan said.

“But I thought that we did that after every loss. I thought we were able to find a way to get better, and use this to get better, and be mature enough to not point fingers and to take blame and ownership, and move forward and get better,” he continued. “This team did a really good job of that, being mentally tough and finding ways to get better.”

The Vikings took two more non-region losses to Class 7A powers Madison Central and Brandon — both of those teams reached the state semifinals — then found their groove when they got to pick on people their own size.

They allowed a total of 32 points in their five region games, while at the same time the offense steadily improved. The Vikings won their second consecutive Region 2-6A championship, with four of their five league games decided by at least 12 points.

At one point, Warren Central went 12 quarters without allowing a touchdown.

“The thing about this team was, I thought we got better all the way up to the very end,” Morgan said. “I think about when we went up to Columbus and just had to handle business, and we did that. We really hit another gear after the Neshoba game. We really got things going in the right direction and being more consistent. A lot of that credit goes to our coaches, but also our players.”

A first-round win over Saltillo — Warren Central’s first postseason shutout since 1994 — came next, and then a 21-3 victory over South Panola that sent the Vikings to the semifinal round of the playoffs for the first time since 1994.

Warren Central had been to the playoffs 25 times in the past 30 years, but kept running into a wall in the second round. It reached that level 11 times, including eight of the previous 10 seasons, without breaking through.

Finally, they played their best game at the best time.

“When we were hitting the second round we were coming into our own and played our best game of the year against a really good opponent,” Morgan said. “It was really good to see us get over that hump. The biggest thing was watching our kids get to experience that kind of environment and come out and be successful.”

The magical season ended with a 23-10 loss to Grenada in the North State championship game. Grenada blew out Hattiesburg 43-14 the following week to win its first state championship.

It was a tough finish for the Vikings, but after a couple of weeks to reflect it didn’t diminish a great season. Warren Central won back-to-back region championships for the first time since 2003-04 and, with a 9-4 record, won nine games or more for the fourth time in five seasons.

It all further cemented Warren Central’s status as one of Mississippi’s top high school football programs.

“Had a good year. Did some really good things,” Morgan said. “I’m really proud of our coaches, really proud of our players, because we put a lot into it. A lot of hard work. I was glad to see them have a successful year and be able to accomplish those things.”

Vicksburg Post Coaches of the Year
2024 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2023 – Blake Purvis, Porters Chapel
2022 – Todd McDaniel, Vicksburg
2021 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2020 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2019 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2018 – Michael Fields, St. Aloysius
2017 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2016 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2015 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2014 – B.J. Smithhart, St. Aloysius
2013 – Tavares Johnson, Vicksburg
2012 – Josh Morgan, Warren Central
2011 – Alonzo Stevens, Vicksburg
2010 – Todd Montgomery, Central Hinds
2009 – Curtis Brewer, Warren Central
2008 – B.J. Smithhart, St. Aloysius
2007 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2006 – Jim Taylor, St. Aloysius
2005 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2004 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2003 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
2002 – Jim Taylor, St. Aloysius
2001 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
2000 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1999 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1998 – J.J. Plummer, Porters Chapel
1997 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1996 – Bubba Booth, St. Aloysius
1995 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1994 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1993 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1992 – Bubba Booth, St. Aloysius
1991 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1990 – James Knox, Vicksburg
1989 – James Knox, Vicksburg
1988 – Robert Morgan, Warren Central
1987 – Joe Edwards, St. Aloysius