NEW HOPE — West Point quarterback Kahnen Daniels was looking for redemption during the second quarter of Friday night’s game against New Hope.
After rattling off two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, putting the Green Wave up 12-0, he looked to add a third after breaking through tackles, gliding down the sideline on his way to the end zone.
However, the Trojans’ defense was quick to counter him, forcing a fumble they recovered inside their own 10-yard line.
Later in the corner, Daniels found another opening and didn’t let that one slip. He ran it in for a 6-yard score, his third rushing touchdown of the quarter as West Point dominated New Hope, winning 42-7.
“It’s really nothing, I just had to do it all for the team,” Daniels said. “I knew I had to bounce back from that fumble. I just keep on fighting out there throughout the game and not let those plays affect me and what I do.”
Daniels and West Point (3-2) put on an absolute show in the first half, with Daniels leading the way on the ground with a casual 175 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries.
By half, the Green Wave had activated a running clock, leading 36-0 as New Hope (2-3) just had no answers for an incredible rushing attack.
“It’s always tough,” New Hope head coach Seth Stillman said. “They play really hard, and we knew they were going to play really hard. We talked about it all week, and we came out flat. When you come out flat against really good, physical teams, you get your tail whipped.”
West Point shared the love on the ground in the first half as their three major players on the ground — Daniels, Quinterion Tillman-Evans and Keshawn Henley — each had at least one rushing touchdown in just the first half.
Tillman-Evans broke off a 39-yard TD run while Henley found a hole and ran it in from 17 yards just before the end of the half, a separation of two minutes or so between touchdowns for them.
Those five first-half touchdowns were a statement to the rest of the Golden Triangle and the entire state of Mississippi that West Point might have started off the season flat, but the Green Wave are back with a vengeance.
“We tried to put a real big statement out in the first half,” Tillman-Evans said. “We tried to get out and score as fast as possible, keep the tempo up, get everything working and good.”
West Point head coach Chris Chambless was incredibly impressed by his team: how they were able to keep composure so well, stay grounded and just continue to play like the score was 0-0.
However, this is really just the beginning for the Green Wave, who after a slow 0-2 start have found themselves above the .500 mark and in the driver’s seat moving forward.
Turnovers were really the biggest killer for New Hope being able to stay in the game at all, so the focus for West Point this week is going to be minimizing those turnovers in a big way.
“We’ve still got a long ways to go,” Chambless said. “We have to hold onto the ball better. That’s not us; we don’t turn the ball over. At the same time, our guys are running really hard. Our offense seems to be clicking. Our defense has gotten a lot better, but it’s still a game for us that we have to continue to improve.”
If that wasn’t West Point’s A-game performance Friday, watch out because the Green Wave still have plenty in the tank for the rest of this season and for what they hope will be another deep postseason run.
West Point 42, New Hope 7
West Point (3-2) 12 24 6 0 — 42
New Hope (2-3) 0 0 7 0 — 7
First quarter
WP — Kahnen Daniels 19 run (run failed), clock 7:37
WP — Daniels 5 run (two-point failed), clock 5:55
Second quarter
WP — Quinterion Tillman-Evans 39 run (Daniels run), clock 11:21
WP — Daniels 60 run (Tillman-Evans run), clock 2:56
WP — Keshawn Henley 17 run (Ahmari Cox pass from Tillman-Evans), clock 0:49
Third quarter
WP — Kobe Hammond 28 interception return (kick failed), clock 7:36
NH — Jakobe Smith 58 pass from Nick Cotton (Cole Crawford kick), clock 4:07
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