JACKSON — Surprise turned to resoluteness in a matter of seconds for the West Point High School football team.
Anyone who is familiar with the Green Wave knows what came next.
Faced with the prospect of stopping Brookhaven on a fourth-and-1 to start the fourth quarter, the Green Wave instead re-took possession after a punt and did what they do best: Play West Point football.
Lakenderic Thomas” 10-yard touchdown capped a 14-play drive that helped propel West Point to a 21-3 victory in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state title game at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“It felt great,” Thomas said. “We are the first team to go back to back since the 1980s. We wanted to go down with the best. That is what really motivated us. We just came out and dominated.”
Thomas had 35 carries for 165 yards, while quarterback Justin Cox rushed 20 times for 138 to help West Point (14-1) win its second consecutive Class 5A crown, and its seventh championship in school history. The seven titles ties West Point with Louisville for the second most championships in state history behind South Panola.
The back-to-back titles mark the first time West Point has won titles in consecutive years since it won championships in 1987-89.
“Anytime our offense is on the field you have to feel confident the way we have been playing,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We feel if our defense can play well, like we did tonight, our offense is going to be our second defense on the field. We can drive the ball and hold on to the football and we can be successful.”
Leading 14-3, Deismon Robinson tripped up Brookhaven quarterback Duwone Harris 1 yard short on the final play of the third quarter. Instead of going for it on fourth down from its 40, Brookhaven opted to punt the ball back to West Point.
Six minutes, 11 seconds later the game was over.
That”s how long it took West Point to go 77 yards on 14 plays. But The Green Wave didn”t think they were going to get the ball back.
“We were surprised they weren”t going for it,” senior running back Tommy Keys said. “We thought it was a fake, but we”re glad they didn”t go for it. It let us get the ball back in our hands.”
Said Thomas, “When they punted the ball to us we felt they thought we couldn”t run the ball. It kind of made us mad. We got back in the I-formation and did what we had to do.”
West Point converted four third downs on the drive. Thomas had two, Cox had one, and Tez Pulliam had the final one on a 9-yard run from quarterback. The play was the closest “trick” play West Point ran all night, as Cox came in motion from the left to get the defense leaning to the right while Pulliam burst up the middle.
Thomas scored on the next play to put the game away.
“There isn”t anything fancy about what we do,” Thomas said. “We run the same play and come right at you. We do it with efficiency.”
Brookhaven coach Tucker Peavey knew what to expect from West Point — as do all teams. But Peavey said the Panthers couldn”t match the Green Wave”s size up front and their speed.
Peavey said his defense found its footing after West Point”s first two drives, but the momentum flipped in the second half.
“They just came back out in the second half and just decided to pound us, and that”s where we had trouble matching up,” Peavey said. “One of our inside linebackers got hurt last week and tried to go but he just couldn”t. We were just a little weak inside.”
Peavey also said Harris (16 carries, 79 yards) suffered from a bruised thigh that slowed him down.
West Point failed to get anything from its hard work in the third quarter. The Green Wave took the opening kickoff and held the football for 17 plays and 7:14, moving from their 9 to the Panthers” 7. Thomas got the call on fourth-and-4 from the 7, but was stopped on a straight-ahead run after a 2-yard gain.
The Green Wave caught a break early. The Panthers rumbled 84 yards on eight plays behind the option read running of Harris, who had gains of 37 and 22 yards on the drive. The running set Brookhaven up for a 41-yard field goal, but West Point was flagged for an offsides penalty. The Panthers reconsidered and opted to go for the first down on fourth-and-4 from the Green Wave 19. Harris” option pitch to Travorius Showers looked like it was going to hit pay dirt, but Showers fumbled at the 2 and West Point recovered in the end zone.
West Point then made Brookhaven pay for the mistake. It rolled 80 yards on eight plays and 85 yards on nine plays to take a 14-0 lead. Cox scored on runs of 11 and 3 yards as part of a first half that saw the Green Wave rush for 152 yards on 24 carries.
But West Point gained only 14 yards on its final two drives of the second quarter. As result, Brookhaven turned the field and took over at the West Point 24 with 1:29 left in the first half. A holding call on the Green Wave and 9 yards by the Panthers helped set up Dewey Stailey”s 22-yard field goal as time expired to cut the deficit to 14-3.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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