STARKVILLE — West Point High School sophomore Marcus Murphy admitted he was a little nervous before making his first start at quarterback Saturday night.
The offensive line then did its job, Murphy found the end zone, and the nerves went away.
Murphy rushed for two touchdowns and finished with 160 rushing yards as West Point rallied past Kosciusko 21-14 at the New Hope Jamboree at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.
“The offensive line really did a great job,” Murphy said. “They made my job easy. We have to do some work on the passing game, but I am feeling a little better every day. I am getting more comfortable and my teammates are doing a great job of keeping me up.”
West Point unleashed its sophomore-led running game. On the Green Wave’s first possession, sophomore Chris Calvert capped a 73-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
West Point pushed the lead to 13-0 on a 57-yard run by Murphy with 10 minutes, 8 seconds left.
From there, turnovers stalled West Point’s progress. The Green Wave lost the ball on three-straight possessions. Kosciusko scored on three-straight possessions, including two in which it started in West Point territory.
“We had some turnover issues and we have to fix that in practice,” Calvert said. “Our goal is to go a long way in the playoffs. Even though we have a young team, everybody is excited about what we can do. We don’t play the first week, so we have two weeks to get better in practice. We are going to continue to work hard.”
West Point took the lead for good on a 69-yard run by Murphy with 3:19 remaining.
Kosciusko’s final threat ended on a quarterback sack by R.J. Randle and tackle for loss by Terrence Cherry.
n Noxubee County 12, Holmes County Central 0: The defending Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state champions began the season with a shutout.
Noxubee County managed two touchdowns in five trips to the red zone. On defense, Noxubee County held Holmes County Central to two first downs.
“It was good to get the win, but we know we have to play better,” Noxubee County senior wide receiver/free safety Deveon Ball said. “We were a little off on offense today. The best thing is we know what we are capable of doing. We just have to work hard in practice and correct our mistakes.
“We are excited about a chance to play Starkville (Friday in the season opener). That’s a really big game, so we will come to practice Monday and work harder than we did the first three weeks in practice.”
Senior quarterback Timorrius Conner hit Ball for a 10-yard touchdown and Shunessey Sherrod on a 21-yard touchdown. Both scores took place in the first quarter.
n Louisville 17, Columbus 14: Junior Kylin Hill ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as the Falcons couldn’t overcome four turnovers, including three interceptions.
“We got better today,” Columbus second-year coach Randal Montgomery said. “The scoreboard may not reflect that. We told the guys that if this was a regular game, we would have had a second half to correct our mistakes.
“That means we come back out to practice Monday and correct mistakes. Everything we did wrong is certainly fixable. We saw a lot of bright spots and things that encourage you.”
Hill scored on runs of 45 and 56 yards.
Columbus will play host to Kemper County on Friday night in its season opener.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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