WEST POINT — West Point football coach Chris Chambless knew his team needed a spark.
After racing out to a quick 14-0 lead, his defense was soon on its heels after Tupelo was engineering a long, methodical drive with less than six minutes remaining before halftime.
The Golden Wave tried to cash in on 4th-and-4 on the West Point 28, but West Point defensive end Jequarius Thomas put an end to any hope of a comeback immediately. Thomas swam past the right tackle with ease and sacked Tupelo quarterback Jake Weir, forcing a fumble in the process. Sophomore linebacker Keon Cunningham immediately picked up the loose ball and delivered a 70-yard scoop-and-score to give his team a three-possession lead.
“We needed something,” Chambless said. “We needed a shot in the arm, and we were able to get it. That was huge, and Keon had great awareness on that play. Keon can certainly run, and our guys know that.”
It was a pivotal moment in the Class 5A Green Wave’s second straight win over a 6A opponent, taking down Tupelo 37-7 Friday in West Point after beating rival Starkville a week ago.
Nonetheless, Chambless seemed bothered his team committed four penalties and gave away 25 free yards.
“We were a little sluggish tonight,” Chambless said. “We came off an emotional win last week, and we were in a good mood, but we just came out a little sluggish. Tonight showed that.
“But we were able to overcome that and win the football game… Our kids overcame the mistakes. They got the job done when we had to.”
West Point (3-1) scored on its first two drives thanks to two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Brandon Harris. Harris boldly proclaimed earlier in the week he wanted to score six touchdowns against Tupelo (2-2) after amassing five against Starkville, but the senior signal caller had to settle for two. Harris finished with 70 yards rushing and was 1 of 3 passing for 39 yards.
“I said I wanted to score six (touchdowns), but you have to credit Tupelo; they have a good defense and made some quality plays,” Harris said. “We came out and played hard. We just kept running the ball and made sure nobody could stop us.”
Shortly after Tupelo’s ill-fated fumble, the Golden Wave scored their lone touchdown of the night on a 23-yard pass from Weir to Tupelo wideout Trip Martin. Martin finished with five receptions for 86 yards, while Weir threw for 204 yards.
But the Green Wave answered with a well-executed two-minute drill finishing it off with quarterback Gray Berry finding Jakobe Pate for a 9-yard strike with just two seconds left before halftime to take a 27-7 lead into the break.
“I was really proud of our offense on our last drive before halftime,” Chambless said. “We ran a great two-minute drill and controlled the clock well.”
West Point outgained Tupelo in total offense 331-251 and also won the turnover battle 2-0. On the ground, Jimothy Mays led West Point with 119 yards and a touchdown. Berry completed 5 of 9 passes for 83 yards, while TJ Anderson hauled in three catches for 80 yards. Jordan Rupert chipped in two receptions for 22 yards.
The Green Wave are back in action at 7 p.m. Friday against Noxubee County in Macon.
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.