WEST POINT — The unique formation the West Point football team uses to move the ball and run down the clock in crunch time has a fittingly unique name.
Beast-cat.
The run-heavy package features a lot of direct snaps to the titular “beast” — typically senior Brandon Harris — and plenty of fullbacks and offensive linemen to clear space for him.
“We get in the beast-cat formation, and our guys just kind of come alive,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said.
In Friday’s MHSAA Class 5A north state final against Neshoba Central, the Green Wave did just that. West Point held a 12-7 lead early in the fourth quarter and was handed the ball at its own 20-yard line after the Rockets punted into the end zone, and the Green Wave put “beast-cat” into action.
Harris and fellow senior backs Dantariyus Cannon and Jimothy Mays executed a brutal 19-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ran 9 minutes, 28 seconds off the clock. They converted two third downs and two fourth downs on the way to a 2-yard rushing score from Mays, which sealed a 20-7 West Point win and the Green Wave’s fourth straight appearance in the state championship game.
“Everybody doubted us,” an emotional Mays said postgame. “It’s a long ride. I just can’t believe it.”
The Green Wave lost on the road at Louisville in Week 2, but West Point recovered to rattle off 13 straight victories — and counting.
They’ll face undefeated Picayune (14-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Class 5A title game. The Maroon Tide handed West Jones, whom West Point beat for last year’s title, its first loss of the season in Friday’s south final — a welcome new development for Harris and the Green Wave.
“I’m tired of playing West Jones,” Harris said. “We already beat West Jones. Picayune, we’re coming for you. Four-peat.”
Harris has been preaching the importance of reaching that goal — four championships for four years of high school — all year, and he played Friday like he was ready to get there.
Apart from his rushing efforts — he ran for 74 yards on 20 carries and powered in the two-point conversion of Mays’ touchdown — Harris played a big role in the passing game.
He completed 5 of 7 passes, including a 16-yard play-action touchdown pass to linebacker Jakobe Pate for the Green Wave’s first score. But Harris’ most important throw of the night came early on that fateful fourth-quarter drive, when he rolled right and found TJ Anderson for 11 yards on third-and-5 at the West Point 40-yard line.
“B stepped up big time, made some huge throws,” Chambless said.
The only passing play among the 19 plays of the drive, the connection built the momentum for West Point to march down the field. Cannon ran for 7 yards on third-and-6, then Harris went for 4 on fourth-and-3. Seven grueling run plays later, Mays was in the end zone celebrating a touchdown drive so typical of West Point.
“That’s kind of the Green Wave way,” Chambless said. “We ended with Green Wave football, and if we can do that, we’re a hard team to beat.”
West Point 20, Neshoba Central 7
Neshoba Central 0 0 7 0 — 7
West Point 6 6 0 8 — 20
First quarter
WP — Jakobe Pate 16 pass from Brandon Harris (kick failed), clock 3:56
Second quarter
WP — Tae Gibbs 14 run (run failed), clock 6:03
Third quarter
NC — Jarquez Hunter 4 run (Hunter Bavetta kick), clock 0:27
Fourth quarter
WP — Jimothy Mays 2 run (Harris run), clock 1:04
Team statistics
NC WP
First downs 8 20
Rushes-yards 31-115 47-184
Passing yards 80 102
Return yards 57 0
Comp.-att.-int. 2-11-0 9-12-0
Penalties-yards 2-28 4-38
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Neshoba Central — Jarquez Hunter 16-71, Tyler Mathis 11-37, Austin Day 4-7; West Point — Brandon Harris 19-68, Dantariyus Cannon 15-65, Jimothy Mays 9-30, Tae Gibbs 3-23, Corbin Kelley 1-(-2).
PASSING: Neshoba Central — Eli Anderson 2-11, 10; West Point — Brandon Harris 5-7, 65; Corbin Kelley 4-5, 37.
RECEIVING: Neshoba Central — Jarquez Hunter 2-10; West Point — TJ Anderson 4-36, Jordan Rupert 2-21, Dantariyus Cannon 1-17, Jakobe Pate 1-16, Trey Ryland 1-12.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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