WEST POINT — The West Point High School football team’s 34-20 victory against New Hope in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) game here Friday night proved two things.
The first thing it proved is it’s hard to beat a Chris Chambless-coached team at home. It also proved it is even tougher to beat the Green Wave in a region game.
According to MaxPreps, West Point is 67-14 at Hamblin Stadium and 75-11 in region play since 2004. The Green Wave also are 10-1 against the Trojans in that stretch.
“West Point is a tough team to play, and it’s a tough place to win a game,” New Hope coach Kris Pickle said. “They’re (West Point) probably going to be the North Half champions this year and should play for the state championship in December.”
New Hope (5-5, 2-4 region) needed a victory against West Point (9-1, 6-0) to keep its postseason hopes alive. Clarksdale (3-3 region), which lost to Lake Cormorant 17-12, will be the region’s No. 4 seed in the playoff thanks to its 42-13 victory on Sept. 23.
West Point helped dash New Hope’s playoff chances with a “ground-and-pound” attack that racked up 257 yards rushing and averaged 5.2 yards per rush.
Running behind a crack offensive line, junior Marcus Murphy had 27 carries for 158 yards, an average of 5.9 per rush.
“Marcus gave us everything he had tonight,” Chambless said. “He’s a great leader, and our offense revolves around him.”
Chambless showed how much confidence he had in Murphy by calling his number seven times for 30 yards on a nine-play, 40-yard opening drive after a short punt gave West Point a first down 10 yards inside Trojan territory.
Facing a fourth-and-5 at the New Hope 11-yard line, West Point caught a break when New Hope lined up in the neutral zone. The penalty resulted in a first-and-goal at the 6. Taking a direct snap, Murphy plunged into the end zone with 6 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter. Jose Garcia, who had four kickoffs sail into the end zone for touchbacks, added the kick for a 7-0 lead.
After forcing New Hope to punt, West Point needed six plays to cover 74 yards. Quarterback Clayton Knight sandwiched 8-yard pass completions to Demarrio Edwards and Jason Brownlee around a 29-yard pickup by Andre Lane. Murphy added a 9-yard gain for a first down at the New Hope 20. A 13-yard keeper by Knight set up a first-and-goal at the 7.
Murphy then scored his second touchdown, but a holding call nullified the play and pushed the ball back to the 13. Undaunted, Murphy took a direct snap, showed run and hit Brownlee with a 13-yard toss. Garcia’s kick made it 14-0 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.
Two plays later, Brownlee intercepted Thomas Stevens at the West Point 36, but a New Hope’s Kobe Matthews recovered a fumble six plays later to end the drive at the Trojans’ 33.
Neither team scored the remainder of the second half, but New Hope mounted a 13-play, 66-yard drive behind seven Stevens’ pass completions — four of which were caught by Jeremy Tate — to reach the Green Wave 12 with 15 seconds left in the second quarter. An apparent New Hope touchdown was nullified, however, when wide receiver Terryonte Thomas’ catch was ruled behind the end line.
In the third quarter, West Point returned to its ground game. Murphy had his longest run, a 35-yarder, to give the Green Wave a first down at the Trojans’ 24. Three plays later, Murphy took a pitch from Knight and scored on a 4-yard run. Garcia’s kick made it 21-0 less than three minutes into the period.
New Hope finally dented the scoreboard when Andre Erby dove to catch a Stevens pass in the end zone. His 27-yard reception capped a five-play, 71-yard march. Nathan Wilson’s kick cut the deficit to 21-7.
The Green Wave answered early in the fourth quarter after a 21-yard punt gave West Point a first down at New Hope’s 30. A 11-yard reception by Brownlee set the stage for five-straight carries by Murphy. The last of which was a 5-yard run that gave him three scores. Garcia’s kick made it 28-7 with 8:57 left to play.
New Hope used a 12-play, 80-yard march to cut into the deficit. Tate capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown catch. Wilson’s kick made it 28-14 with 5:22 to play.
New Hope added another score with 50 seconds left when Stevens completed a 63-yard toss to Thomas and a 17-yard scoring toss to Tate.
In between the scores, Edwards added West Point’s final touchdown on a 15-yard bolt up the middle.
New Hope entered the game averaging 31.4 points per game, 274.9 yards passing, and 103.6 yards rushing, but West Point held New Hope under its averages (247 yards passing, 59 yards rushing on 18 carries).
New Hope running back Tyran Reed entered the game with 456 yards rushing and a 6.3 average per carry, but he had only 13 yards on seven carries. Senior wide receiver Andre Erby came in with 36 receptions for 794 yards and a 22.1 average, but he had three catches for 31 yards.
“In spite of the outcome, we played the hardest we’ve played all year,” Pickle said. “I don’t believe in moral victories, but we played our tails off, and we have nothing to hang our heads about.
“I’ve been telling them all year long they can play with anybody, and I’m proud of our effort because West Pint could have easily hung 50 points on us as good as they are. A couple of breaks going our way here and there and it could have been a different ballgame, and for them to come here and play like this was impressive.”
Chambless praised his team and New Hope’s effort.
“We knew New Hope could put points on the board, and to hold them to 20 points was a credit to our defense,” Chambless said. “(Thomas) Stevens puts the ball on the money to a very good group of receivers, and that’s why they can score on anybody.”
Chambless said his 1-2 punch of Murphy and Knight, along with Brownlee, who is a two-way standout, played well.
“Defensively, we missed a couple of plays in the secondary late in the game to let them extend a couple of drives, but overall we played well on that side of the ball,” Chambless said. “We have great team chemistry, and these kids stick together no matter what happens. We’ve clinched the No. 1 seed in our region, but we’re not going to start celebrating. We want to get through the regular season and finish with a win at Lewisburg next week, and then hopefully we can do our celebrating at the end of the year.”
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 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.