While the West Point High School football team’s string of two straight Class 5A region championships is in jeopardy, second place is still important to the Green Wave.
West Point can salt away at least second place with a victory at 7 tonight against New Hope in a Class 5A, Region 1 game at West Point’s McCallister Field.
“Second place is still vitally important because it gives you home-field advantage in the first round (of the playoffs),” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We should have won the region. We lost at Center Hill (30-29). Yes, they beat us. But we didn’t help ourselves. We did not have the mental focus or intensity you need to win on the road.”
After undefeated runs through region play in 2009 and 2010, West Point could still snag this year’s title. To make it three straight, West Point would have to beat New Hope, while Center Hill would have to lose at Hernando.
West Point is 6-4 and is tied at 5-1 in region play with Center Hill. Clarksdale and Hernando are 4-2 in region, while Oxford is fifth at 3-3. Oxford could extend its season with a win tonight against Clarksdale and some tiebreaker help.
New Hope (4-6, 2-4 region) is on a four-game losing streak. After making the second round of the Class 5A North State playoffs a season ago, New Hope saw its playoff chances end last week in a 23-12 loss to Center Hill.
“We have just had a normal week of practice,” New Hope coach Michael Bradley said. “We’re approaching it like it is a game that will determine playoff seeding of whether we make the playoffs. We have just tried to focus on getting better this week. We want to try to close the season on a positive note. We want to try to end a season that has had so many bad things happen on a positive note.”
Bradley said mistakes and injuries have plagued the Trojans all season. Last week, New Hope allowed 20 points in three minutes in the first half and then regrouped against a team that could win the region. Bradley said it was difficult to come back from another disappointing loss, but he said his team won’t approach tonight’s game as a spoiler.
“You have to learn to take the good times and take the bad times and learn from the bad times,” Bradley said. “Having what I call ‘character-testers’ will help you appreciate the good times when the good times come.”
Even if West Point falls short of the region title, Chambless still likes his team’s chances in November.
“I would not trade this team for any other team in the state,” Chambless said. “I say that because I know these kids and I know their potential. We have stretches where we put it all together. We just have to make those stretches last longer.”
A week ago, West Point bounced back from the Center Hill loss to post a 31-21 win at Oxford. Quarterback DeQuinten Spraggins ran for 229 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown.
“Offensively, we have played well all year,” Chambless said. “We have a tendency to put up points. Defensively, we have made too many mistakes. But we knew that might happen going into the season. There have been times this year where we have had three, four, or five guys out there who had not even taken a snap before the season began.
“We have really struggled to find an identity. I have never faulted the effort. We have played awfully hard and worked through the youth in some spots. I really feel like in the playoffs we have a chance to show our true potential.”
Chambless hopes the postseason will give two-time defending Class 5A state champion West Point new life.
“We will play with pressure because of the last couple of seasons,” Chambless said. “I like this team and I like where we are. We have grown up a lot during the year. Through the losses, we have learned the focus and intensity you have to play with. I am hoping (tonight) we can come out and play West Point football. If we do that, we have a chance for that to carry over into the playoffs.”
Sports editor Adam Minichino contributed to this report.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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