WEST POINT — Watching film of Ridgeland High School”s undefeated football team, West Point defensive end Tommy Keys was looking forward to a tough Class 5A North State final Friday night.
The surprised look on his face after the Green Wave”s 47-0 victory told one of two things: The Titans aren”t as good as their record, or West Point is the most dominant team in 5A.
The bigger and stronger Green Wave pounded their way to 363 rushing yards and held the Titans to 22 yards of offense to earn a chance to play for their second straight state title.
“I thought it was gonna be a great ballgame,” Keys said. “(Ridgeland) played good in the beginning, but maybe they weren”t used to the mud. I think our size did affect them. I thought they were gonna be bigger until we looked at their roster.”
West Point (13-1) will face Brookhaven (9-4), which upset previously undefeated West Jones in the South State title game, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson.
West Point scored on two of its first three possessions and forced a fumble and a pair of Ridgeland three-and-outs.
The early tone zapped the life out of the Titans, who trailed 34-0 at halftime. Ridgeland had just one first down and didn”t have positive yards at the break.
Meanwhile, the Green Wave converted four fourth downs in the first half and got an all-star performance from quarterback Justin Cox, who had 107 rushing yards and 117 passing yards on 9-of-11 completions.
West Point coach Chris Chambless lauded his team”s landslide win and praised its playoff preparation.
“When we know it”s one and done and there”s a chance we may not play next week, our guys kick it up a notch,” Chambless said. “We”re sort of getting better each week, still. It feels good when you go back in and watch the film, knowing we”re playing well and we can still go back and correct the mistakes and play so much better. You get positives out of that.”
In the two minutes between the end of the first quarter and start of the second, West Point showed how dominant it would be. Leading 7-0, the Green Wave faced a fourth-and-2 from the Ridgeland 42 before Keys carried for 9 yards on a fake punt. On the ensuing play, Cox hit Jamarius Tallie on a 33-yard touchdown pass.
The Green Wave then forced a three-and-out that Keys punctuated by blocking an Alex Hawkins punt.
On Ridgeland”s next possession, West Point”s DeQuinten Spraggins intercepted quarterback Nick Johnson
West Point scored on its final three drives of the second quarter.
The Green Wave forced a pair of turnovers and sacked Johnson three times. Brandon Edwards had two of West Point”s sacks.
“We preach being physical and doing the best job we can, knocking people off the ball,” Chambless said. “We were able to do that tonight.”
Ridgeland coach and former West Point coordinator Kenny Burton was disappointed in the blowout loss and declined comment following the game.
“I don”t have anything to say other than West Point”s a good team and I wish them well,” Burton said.
West Point running back Lakenderic Thomas rushed for 105 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. Tez Pulliam had 73 yards on five carries.
As easy as West Point made the win look, Chambless expressed concern during the week about preparing for Ridgeland”s spread running attack. He described Ridgeland as the “most fundamentally sound” team his team was to face this season. Additionally, the Titans” offense was unlike any system the Green Wave had seen this season.
“It worried me a little bit having to play assignment football,” Chambless said. “Our guys, they fly around and sometimes they get us overpursuing. We worked real hard all week long on playing assignment football to make sure we got our responsibilities. The defense played well tonight.”
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.