WEST POINT — The two time defending 5A Mississippi state champion West Point High School football team took the first step in defense of its crown Friday night with a 43-14 victory against Neshoba Central in the first round of the Class 5A North State playoffs.
West Point used six rushing touchdowns from three players to set up a rematch against Starkville High next week at Starkville.
Although the Green Wave lost three of their first four games, they rallied to earn the No. 2 seed in the Region 1.
Against Neshoba Central, West Point attempted a few passes in the first half but returned to West Point football — which is predicated on bruising running and dominating offensive line play — and rushed it nearly every down.
The formula helped West Point take a 21-14 halftime lead, but West Point coach Chris Chambless went into the locker room at the intermission on a mission.
“It’s playoffs and you better step up or you are going to go home,”
Chambless said at halftime. “I don’t like begging and pleading, and I
am not going to do it. We are either going to get the job done or we
are going to go to the house. You don’t get second chances or do overs in the playoffs.”
The Green Wave responded, scoring 22 points in the second half and shutting out the Rockets. Senior quarterback DeQuinten Spraggins took Chambless’ words to heart as he put the first points on the board for the Green Wave, scoring on a 7-yard run.
“Coach told us it could be the seniors’ last time playing tonight, so for us to win this game we had to step up, make some big plays, and fix our mistakes we made in the first half,” Spraggins said.
Spraggins gave the Green Wave life in the first half by scoring twice. He put West Point on the board when he scored on a 25-yard run to give his team a 7-6 lead. He added another scoring run with 18 seconds left in the second quarter to put the Green Wave up 21-14 at halftime. He finished with 163 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns.
The Green Wave added two more rushing touchdowns in the second half by Aeris Williams and Roger Thomas. Chambless wanted his offensive line to move the defensive line to create lanes for the running backs.
“We weren’t moving their ‘D’ line in the first half,” Chambless said. “We started moving them and the running backs had some holes they could run through and they didn’t have to dance.”
Williams scored on a 5-yard run with 7 minutes, 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter to make it 34-14. Thomas scored the final touchdown on a 2-yard dive. Williams added another touchdown in the second quarter and finished with 110 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns.
“I just wanted to show out for our seniors because we want to take it back to the championship,” Williams said.
Tez Lane, the usual workhorse in the running game, went unnoticed. He rushed the ball 17 times for 89 yards. Even though he didn’t have a touchdown, he was instrumental in setting up his teammates.
The Rockets found the end zone twice in the first half. O’Neal McCarty scored the game’s first points on a 27-yard run. Quarterback Josh Stewart found McCarty on a 61-yard touchdown pass to tie up the game.
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