OXFORD — Senior quarterback Dequinten Spraggins knew his time was coming to make big plays for the Green Wave.
A year of learning on the run and adapting from a full-time defensive player to an offensive threat showed up at the most advantageous time Friday night for the West Point High School football team.
Needing a win coming off a disappointing loss to Center Hill, Spraggins helped lead Green Wave to a 31-21 win against Oxford at Bobby Holcomb Field.
Not only did the victory solidify the Green Wave (6-4) as the No. 2 seed in Class 5A, Region 1 with a 5-1 mark, the win displayed the team’s offensive firepower on the ground.
Spraggins rushed for 229 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. He also had 68 yards and a score through the air to drop the Chargers to 5-5 and 3-3). He reeled off two 80-plus yard runs in a second half that was clearly won by the Green Wave, while his leadership and poise helped keep his teammates playing hard.
“I feel like I had to step it up a notch and make sure that my team stayed motivated in the game because I felt at one point in time we were getting down,” Spraggins said. “I’m pretty comfortable (at quarterback). I knew there was going to be a time for it. I always stay motivated because I knew my time was going to come. I was getting prepared for (quarterback) at the same time I was on defense. I knew I was going to have to play quarterback this year and at the same time coach (Chris Chambless) kept me in the game and kept me prepared.”
Chambless said Spraggins is a joy to be around and will be missed next year.
“He begs for the ball. He’s tough, country, just a good young man that you love to have around. Whether it’s just a conversation with him or playing football, he’s fun to be around. He’s one of those guys you hate to see go,” Chambless said. “He’s played defense for us the last couple of years and this year we moved him to quarterback. We knew that change was coming but he’s still able to give us some reps on defense when we need it.”
West Point fell behind Oxford 7-0 midway through the first quarter and trailed 14-10 with 3:22 left before the half. The Green Wave, who first got on the scoreboard with a 44-yard field goal from Eric Lemus, had their moments in the first half, but they never did give the kind of effort Chambless was looking for until the final 24 minutes of play.
“You can’t go to Oxford to play Oxford without energy. The first half we thought we had it but thinking you got it and having are two different things. We finally stopped looking for somebody else to have that fire and that intensity and make a play,” Chambless said. “All 11 of us had the fire and intensity to make the play. Our offense can roll and our defense, we got more players than what we’ve shown lately and tonight they picked it up and did a great job, especially that second half.”
Chambless said that his team continued to run the same schemes they usually do. The difference, in a game that has become a competitive rivalry, was the effort.
“We ran some personnel on and off that always play every game. The energy level got better and that’s the difference. Oxford and West Point is a great game every year. You can throw everything out the window when we play,” Chambless said. “It’s gotten to be a real good rivalry, a friendly rivalry at that. You got family members on each staff, you got friends on each staff. The respect we have for their kids and the respect they have for our kids, it’s just a great game all around. We look forward to it every year.”
West Point may have been much better than Oxford in the second half, but its comeback started the final drive of the first half when Spraggins engineered a 12-play, 66-yard scoring drive that he capped with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Aeris Williams with just 11.2 seconds left on the clock. The score put the Green Wave ahead for good at 17-14.
From there, Spraggins set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Mario Virges midway through the third quarter with an 86-yard run that ended with him fumbling the ball out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Spraggins said he was relieved when the officials said West Point maintained possession instead of it being a touchback in Oxford’s favor.
“I believe there was a reason for it. Honest to God I believe there was a reason for it because everything I do happens for a reason. I feel like God is out here with me,” Spraggins said about the run-and-fumble sequence.
The Green Wave led OHS 24-14 at the end of the third quarter and were up 31-14 with 3:15 left in the game when Spraggins capped his big night with an 82-yard touchdown run. Spraggins said his first big run of the game was the toughest, but he had faith in his blockers to open a crease for him to sneak through.
“(The holes) opened up but I still like had to make some ducks and dodges and keep toting the ball and keep on pushing it. I put my faith in the big boys, but I had to make my own cuts and my own decisions on those runs,” Spraggins said.
Oxford, which took its 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Mont Dean, scored its final touchdown with 2:55 left on an 82-yard catch-and-run by Glenn Gordon. The Chargers recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Green Wave defense buckled down and drove the Chargers backwards for negative yardage the next four plays to end any threat of a late comeback.
West Point will return to action Friday at home against New Hope.
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