WEST POINT — In the current era of wide open, high-scoring spread offenses, the battle between the West Point and Oxford high school football teams turned out to be a throwback to a bygone era where, more times than not, a good defense beat a good offense.
That was the case Friday night at Hamblin Stadium, as West Point’s smothering defense limited Oxford to 116 yards en route to a 22-8 in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 1 opener for both teams.
The victory helped the Green Wave end a five-game losing streak to the Chargers.
Over the past three years, Oxford (2-3) had posted three regular-season wins and two playoff decisions against the Green Wave (4-1), outscoring them 200-91 in the process. But that streak ended thanks to a stellar defensive effort that held the Chargers, who entered the Region 1 opener averaging more than 325 yards per game, to 37 yards rushing and 79 passing.
West Point had eight sacks and/or tackle for losses for -53 yards and held Oxford runners to 3 yards or less on 17 rushing attempts. All told, the Chargers averaged 1.02 yards per carry. Twenty-five of its 36 running plays resulted in a sack, a tackle for loss, or a run of 3 yards or less.
“Our defensive effort was the difference tonight,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We got caught on a couple of fake plays, but after their first possession our defense bowed up, we didn’t give up any big plays and we really got after their quarterback. The defense accounted for one of our three touchdowns, so overall (the defense) played a major role.”
Clinging to a 15-8 fourth-quarter advantage, senior defensive lineman C.J. Melton’s 45-yard scoop-and-score of a fumble gave West Point a 22-8 advantage and played a big role in preventing the Chargers from extending their streak against the Green Wave.
“You don’t find many defensive linemen who can run like that,” Chambless said. “We didn’t have any blocks in the back or any other silly penalty on the play. We stress playing smart football, and that’s what we did on that play.”
“Smart” play wasn’t as evident on West Point’s initial possession, as a 39-yard touchdown run by Mississippi State commit Marcus Murphy was nullified by a holding penalty. A 7-yard sack of quarterback Clayton Knight by 6-foot-1, 235-pound linebacker Quentin Wilfawn and a 5-yard penalty when 12 players broke the huddle followed.
Two plays later, Wilfawn intercepted a tipped pass to give Oxford a first down at the Green Wave 42-yard line. The Chargers converted the turnover into the first touchdown, when Hiram Wadlington Jr. scored on a 1-yard run to cap a nine-play drive.
Adding insult to injury, holder John Reece McClure, who doubles as his team’s starting quarterback, picked up the two-point conversion on a fake kick attempt to give his team an 8-0 lead with 2 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first quarter.
Eighteen seconds later, Murphy bolted 67 yards untouched down the visitor’s sideline for a touchdown. Jose Garcia added the kick to make it 8-7.
Neither team mounted much of an offensive attack the remainder of the half, with four consecutive possessions turning into three-and-outs and five of the seven combined possessions ending with fourth-down punts.
Oxford went to its bag of tricks on its second possession of the third quarter with a fake punt that picked up a first at the Green Wave 27, but a 15-yard dead ball penalty brought the ball back to the 42. Terence Cherry then sacked McClure for a 5-yard loss. Two plays later, Xavier Fair caused a fumble and Jaylon Webb’s recovery gave West Point a first down at the Oxford 43.
“We seemed to lose our momentum after the fake punt, and you can’t afford to turn the ball over against a good team like West Point,” Oxford first-year head coach Chris Cutcliffe said.
The Chargers returned the favor one play later when Knight was sacked for a 6-yard loss, but he came back with a 10-yard completion to Demarrio Edwards. Murphy then took a direct snap and bolted 39 yards for his second touchdown. Opting to go for the two-point conversion, Knight connected with Nate Montgomery to give the Green Wave a 15-8 lead with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
After back-to-back three-and-outs by both teams, Oxford’s final two possessions proved fruitless. First, Melton’s fumble return and Garcia’s kick made it 22-8. A late McClure scramble to the Green Wave 24 was nullified by a holding penalty and was followed by a 7-yard sack and a fourth-down incomplete pass.
“It took us a half to get going, but when everyone feeds off each other like we did tonight we’re hard to beat,” Chambless said.
Asked if revenge played a factor in West Point’s game preparation, Chambless said it wasn’t stressed until just before kickoff.
“You don’t want to harp on it all week, but you know in the back of their heads it’s there,” Chambless said. “We focused on this being our next game and our district opener.”
Not willing to ignore the revenge factor altogether, Chambless finally reminded his team what was at stake.
“Before we came out, we put it in their heads this is more than our next game or first district game,” Chambless said. “It’s Oxford and we got to roll.”
Cutcliffe said three plays turned the game West Point’s way.
“All three were made by them (West Point),” Cutcliffe said. “But despite the loss, we competed, and I’m proud of that, and we are going to get better, I promise you.”
Murphy led all rushers with 173 yards on 18 carries, including touchdown runs of 67 and 39 yards. Wadlington, who came into the game as Oxford’s leading rusher with 353 yards on 82 carries (4.3 avg.) and two 100-plus yard games, was limited to 35 yards on 14 tries — an average of 2.5 yards per carry.
In his first four games, Oxford’s McClure threw for 918 yards (an average of almost 230 yards per game), but relentless pressure by West Point held him to 79 yards passing on a 13-for-23 night. Barry Flowers, his favorite receiver with 17 catches for 334 yards, was held to one reception for 8 yards.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.