WEST POINT — Neither lengthy bus rides, injuries, nor weighty expectations prevented the West Point High School football team from making its appointed rounds this season.
At 7 p.m. Saturday, the Green Wave hope to complete the journey to the ultimate prize: A state championship.
West Point (13-1) will try to win its second consecutive Class 5A title when it takes on Brookhaven (9-4) in the Mississippi High School Activities Association championship at Mississippi Memorial Stadium.
The Green Wave survived a trip to Daytona Beach, Fla., and defeated Mainland (Fla.) 14-0 in a national-exposure matchup in their second game of the season. A scheduling conflict with the MHSAA forced the Green Wave to cancel a game against Columbus and gave the team a bye week. The layoff didn”t look like it hurt the team, as it built a 20-0 halftime lead against Starkville. The Yellow Jackets, though, rallied in the second half for a 21-20 victory in West Point.
Since then, West Point has ripped off 11 victories in a row, including an impressive 47-0 home victory against Ridgeland last week. The victory against the previously undefeated Titans secured the North State title and finalized plans many people in West Point had been banking on since the program beat Wayne County 35-14 last year for its sixth state title.
The road back to Jackson wasn”t easy.
West Point overcame a schedule that included trips to Region 1 rivals Indianola Gentry, Lake Cormorant, Clarksdale, and Hernando. The Green Wave also had to hold off the Oxford Chargers in a 22-20 victory on Oct. 8 in West Point. The Green Wave punctuated that victory two weeks ago by traveling to Oxford to beat the Chargers 27-12.
West Point High coach Chris Chambless said West Point has been lucky and the kids have worked and played hard and done what is expected of them to help the program return to the title stage. Still, the Green Wave have had to come from behind in a few games, largely because every team has tried to play their best game against the defending Class 5A state champions.
Through it all, Chambless said he doesn”t think the team doubted it could get back to Jackson
“If there was any questioning it was to themselves saying, ”We”re a lot better than we”re playing,” ” Chambless said. “The light bulbs have come on the past few weeks, and they have done a really good job of focusing and preparing, and it has shown the past few weeks.”
The Green Wave have returned to the title stage thanks to a running attack that has amassed 3,977 yards. Senior running back Lakenderic Thomas and senior quarterback Justin Cox have led the way on offense. Both never doubted the Green Wave could put themselves in position to win a state championship.
“We just have to stay focused, don”t get overconfident, just work hard, and keep playing West Point football like we have been doing for the past couple of weeks,” Thomas said. “Everybody has to keep making plays and stepping up. If we do that we”ll be all right and we”ll win another one.”
Said Cox, “We had players step up. When players step up, they fill in and do the job right, and that”s how we got back here.”
Chambless hopes his team continues a playoff run that has featured some of its finest football of the season. He said the Green Wave will need it against an opponent that might have surprised some with consecutive playoff victories against Wayne County and West Jones, teams that it lost to in the regular season, to earn the right to represent the South in Jackson.
“You”re not going to become a better tackler or blocker right now, but you are going to be better mentally focused, and when you”re better focused you”re going to cut down on mistakes, or missing a blocker, or missing a running lane,” Chambless said. “That really helps when players are focused and understand what the other team is going to try to do to you so we can figure out how to try to combat that.”
Chambless doesn”t anticipate a letdown coming off such a big victory against Ridgeland. He said he was more concerned about his team”s focus after the win at Oxford, but the players showed him he was worrying about nothing.
The plan for Saturday night appears to be the same one West Point has followed the past two seasons. If that”s the case, the Green Wave should keep the ball on the ground and rely on a stingy defense to help them capture the crown.
“We have to play West Point football,” Cox said.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.