While its offense has run roughshod over its foes all season, West Point’s defense has more than held down its side of the ball amid the Green Wave’s chase for state championship No. 14, and once again put together a masterclass on seizing an opponent’s offensive engine last Friday in their 20-6 victory over Holmes County Central in the North Half championship.
Behind the play of wide receiver Gavin Howard, a University of Louisiana at Monroe commit, tight end Julius Mathis, a South Alabama commit, quarterback Davarious Johnson, who came into the game with 30 touchdown passes under his belt, and running back Rashad Campbell, who led the team with 825 yards and 10 touchdown runs, Holmes County was in the midst of its best offensive season in program history. It had set the school record for points in a season (508) and came into the game averaging 39 points per game and scored at least 32 points in 11 of its 13 games.
Then the Jaguars ran into the Green Wave, who held Holmes Central to just six points for the first time since the 2020 season. Here’s a look at some key defensive moments that helped West Point secure entrance into its 10th straight state championship game:
Overcoming a slow start
A flag on West Point on the game’s opening kickoff moved Holmes into the Green Wave territory to begin the game and the Jaguars immediately picked up chunk yardage on their first drive and even converted a 4th-and-5 by way of a long run from Johnson. The Jags efficiently drove down to the 1-yard line and handed the ball off to Jartavious Smart for the score. For a moment it looked as if West Point was about to be in another dog fight to the bitter end against the Jags like last season’s narrow second-round matchup. The Green Wave easily broke up a 2-point pass attempt that had been backed up to the 13-yard-line due to penalties to keep it a once-score game early on, but the quick strike had stolen every bit of momentum in the game. With its players and coaches jumping around in a frenzy, Holmes’ defense forced West Point’s offense into a quick three-and-out and suddenly had the ball back into Green Wave territory on back-to-back drives. This time, though, West Point’s defense trotted out onto the field much more ready and focused and bottled up two runs and a pass attempt by Johnson to force the Jags to punt.
“I mean it’s just a phenomenal defensive effort,” Head coach Brett Morgan said. “Great team defense, It’s just – what can I say? It’s the North Half championship. We knew we prepared all week for it, we knew it was going to come down to the wire.”
No fly zone
While Kingston Branham ran in two touchdowns and Quintin Thompson threw for another score to give the Green Wave a 20-6 halftime advantage it ended the game with, the squad’s defense refused to give an inch of ground to the Jags. Throughout the season the Jags had previously feasted on screen passes to its playmakers and deep shots to speedsters Howard, Jadien Tucker, who averaged eight yards a catch with eight scores, and others but found no such luck on Friday. In the first half the Jags dialed up its first deep pass to Tucker who leaped up to make the grab but was immediately hammered in the secondary. As the ball flew out of his hands and bounced out of bounds, a new and physical tone was ushered in. The Green Wave were not willing to tolerate deep bombs, so the Jags went back to rushing plays and screen passes but still could not replicate the success of their first drive and were forced to punt the ball on their next five drives.
Ball don’t lie
Early in the third quarter, Holmes Central suddenly found the spark it was looking for. After forcing West Point into a turnover on downs on its first drive of the half and after punting away their first drive as well, the Jags forced and recovered a fumble by Branham after he busted loose for a first-down run. Three runs later and Holmes was sitting at the Green Wave’s 19-yard-line hungry as ever to taste the end zone. A Jags’ handoff was met by a gang of Green Wave defenders just short of the goal line and a colossal hit knocked the ball free for a West Point recovery. With the momentum back, Branham broke free from 58 yards for a touchdown run, but it was called back for holding. Two plays later, Michael Williams ran home from 52 yards but it was also called back for holding and the team punted to begin the final quarter.
“(I) felt like we kind of had them broke right there and the officials kind of called two in a row on us, so that was huge,” Morgan said. “That would have pushed it out to 27, but there’s a lot to offensive football as far as taking chances when you are up two scores in a playoff game. So, I’m not completely disappointed in what we did offensively.”
One last try
With the ball back, Holmes put together a clock-chewing drive from its own 24-yard-line and used runs and quick passes to march all the way to the Green Wave 14-yard-line. A run by Smart was halted at the line of scrimmage, and a bad snap sailed over the head of Johnson to move Holmes back further. Smart charged through the line to get Holmes back to the 11-yard-line and a quick pass left the Jags facing fourth down from eight yards out. The team brought out some trickery with a flea-flicker pass but the play was snuffed out from the get-go and the pressure from the Green Wave forced an incomplete pass.
With the ball back, West Point salted away the final four minutes with a series of rushes from Thompson, Branham and Williams to ice the game.
The win marked the sixth time in seven straight games in which West Point (13-0) has held its foe to just one touchdown or less. The team has one more opportunity to showcase its offensive and defensive dominance on Thursday when the squad takes on Brookhaven at 7 p.m. at Davis Wade Stadium for the MHSAA Class 5A state championship.
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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 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
