WEST POINT — West Point football coach Chris Chambless took a deep sigh of relief as the clock hit zeros Friday night.
After the Green Wave raced out to a 21-0 lead in its district opener, Lafayette responded with 15 unanswered points, keeping the home West Point crowd on its toes. Nevertheless, the Green Wave (3-1) killed the final few minutes of the clock in the fourth quarter, hanging on for a 21-15 victory over Lafayette (2-2).
“They chipped away at it,” Chambless said. “They made some plays, and we did as well. It was a nip and tuck game. It was kind of a sloppy game on both sides, but we were able to dig deep and come up on top, which is always a great team win.”
With the win, the Green Wave have won 35 straight Region 1-5A contests dating back to 2015. It’s the fifth victory over Lafayette in three years, with all five wins being one-possession games.
While tension was high on both sides for four quarters, turnovers were the difference for West Point, as the Green Wave recovered three fumbles, two of which turned into touchdowns. West Point defensive back Chris Dean recovered two of the fumbles for his team.
“It’s great any time you can get a turnover and capitalize on it,” Chambless said. “We work on that in practice and were able to do some of that tonight.”
The Green Wave took a 14-0 lead into halftime after a 2-yard touchdown run by Cameron Young in the first quarter and a 14-yard touchdown scamper by Chris Ivy with 34 seconds left in the second.
“I just knew I had to get that ball in there for the team,” Ivy said of scoring his rushing touchdown.
West Point scored its third unanswered touchdown in the third quarter when Ivy took a shotgun snap and connected with Trey Ryland for a 46-yard touchdown pass to put his team up 21-0. Ryland had three receptions for 92 yards Friday.
“It was a pop pass; I threw it and didn’t know if he was going to get on down,” said Ivy, who finished 63 rushing yards on nine carries.
Lafayette refused to give up, however. West Point’s lead was reduced to six after Trikyus Woodall punched in two rushing touchdowns in the second half, leaving the Green Wave clinging to a one possession lead with 3:15 remaining.
Lafayette’s ensuing onside kick attempt failed, but the Commodores still had three timeouts remaining. On third-and-9, West Point called perhaps its most innovative play of the game with a fake handoff bootleg run from Corbin Kelley that gave the Green Wave a first down and the ability to run out the clock.
“On that bootleg, it was a planned play we have,” Chambless said. “They were sneaking in all night, and we were able to get around that. We had a little speed that time.”
JaKobe Pate led West Point in rushing with 80 yards on 16 carries, while Young tallied 67 yards on 17 attempts.
West Point is back in action against Saltillo in a road matchup next week.
“I’m proud of the fight our defense had,” Chambless said. “Even though they gave up plays, they picked their heads up and made the next one, that’s what we preach to those guys.”
West Point 21, Lafayette 15
L 0 0 8 7 — 15
WP 7 7 7 0 — 21
First quarter
WP — Cameron Young 2 run (Alex Harper kick)
Second quarter
WP — Chris Ivy 14 run (Harper kick)
Third quarter
WP — Trey Ryland 46 pass from Ivy (Harper kick)
L — Trikyus Woodall 2 run (Woodall run)
Fourth quarter
L — Woodall 1 run (Andrew Pugh kick)
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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