STARKVILLE – With under 40 seconds left in Thursday’s Class 5A state championship, West Point was facing a 4th-and-3 conversion on the wrong side of a comeback and was in dire need of a miracle against the South Half champion Brookhaven.
Green Wave quarterback Colt Whitacre stepped back and looked to pass but had no time to throw as the Panthers swarming defense busted through into the backfield and forced him to take off. Whitacre juked and danced around the Panthers as best as he could and picked up 22 yards for a first down on Brookhaven’s 49-yard-line.
Finally the Green Wave had some momentum.
At the rock bottom of a 31-19 hole, West Point had no choice but draw up passing plays if it wanted the best chance at a quick score, and head coach Brett Morgan dialed up another try for a deep shot. This time, though, Whitacre had enough time to get his feet set and lob a ball down the right sideline toward receiver Josiah Quinn – but he had no chance to make a play.
Brookhaven’s Eddie Ratliff leaped up ahead of Quinn and snagged the ball out of the air to kill any semblance of hope West Point had left.
The jubilation then set in for the Panthers, who raced up and down their sidelines in raw excitement and joy as cheers from their fans rained down upon them from the stands of Davis Wade Stadium. For the first time all season, West Point could only watch as the Panthers’ offense – which was highlighted by 138 passing yards from quarterback Jaden Allen and 138 rushing yards and a score on 21 carries by shifty running back and game MVP Caiden Quarles – ended the game in victory formation.
On the Green Wave side, it was a shock to see their bid for their third straight championship and 14th in program history be dashed. Many of them sat on the sidelines in disbelief and some had to be consoled as tears poured out of their eyes. An unbeaten season of utter domination had come to a close in comeback fashion. At one point in the game West Point held a 12-0 lead and looked to be largely in control like always, but a few key explosive plays in the run game by the Panthers on offense and a defense that refused to budge in defending the run turned turnovers into critical points to earn the upset.
“Disappointment. A lot of disappointment, West Point head coach Brett Morgan said. “You have to tip your hat to them. Brookhaven outplayed us tonight. They outplayed us and I’m proud of my team. Sometimes that’s just the way the ball bounces you know. (We) had a heck of a year, came up short and we’ll be back.”
The early lead
Rain poured heavily from the skies above Davis Wade Stadium early on and brought a new level of chill to go along with the already frigid temperatures, and it seemed to have frozen both team’s offenses. West Point had the ball first and opened with a long run toward the boundary before turning it over on downs after its next three rushes and one pass attempt failed to gain 10 yards, and Brookhaven saw much of the same. They were stifled three times and punted back to West Point. This went on a few more times before the Green Wave switched gears and caught Brookhaven by surprise. After a steady dose of rushes by running back Quintin Thompson, he faked like he was about to have another carry to the right side of the field, then stopped and fired a deep pass to wide-open tight end Ja’Michael Strong. No one had seen him come streaking out from the left side of the line and he had no problem winning the 57-yard foot race for the game’s first score. Charlie Harrell missed the PAT, but vibes were high on West Point’s side as it led 6-0 with 2:57 left in the first quarter.
With the ice shaken off, the Green Wave’s defense brought heat to Brookhaven and killed one of their drives to the red zone by way of a forced fumble. Taevion Thomas knocked the ball free from Quarles’ control and Markinzius Bell jumped on it for the recovery. West Point’s offense couldn’t find much running room and was forced to punt. Whitacre boomed a kick that left Brookhaven starting its drive on its own 7-yard-line, and two plays later Allen was strip-sacked by Damarvion Haughton and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Bell. Thompson tried to throw a 2-point conversion to Strong but it fell incomplete for the 12-0 lead with 7:33 left in the first half.
Turnovers and trading blows
The end of the second half was full of quick points and turnovers that went both ways and left West Point with a 19-10 lead at the break.
The Panthers booted a 24-yard field goal to get on the board and recovered a fumble by West Point’s Michael Williams for an added boost. The turnover left Brookhaven only needing to go 46 yards, and after a loss of five more yards, Allen took off for a 51-yard touchdown run to make it a 12-10 ball game with 2:10 left in the half. The Green Wave were bottled up once again and were forced to punt, but the Panthers muffed it and West Point recovered it. A pass interference on Brookhaven set up a 22-yard touchdown throw from Whitacre to Bryceson Hoskins just before intermission.
The Panthers pull away
The action in the third quarter ended up deciding the outcome and it was Brookhaven who made the most plays. The Panthers outscored West Point 21-0 in the quarter and got started with a 57-yard touchdown throw from Allen to Harron. A 19-yard scoring run from Quarles on the team’s next possession produced their first lead of the game at 24-19, but West Point still felt very much in it despite the tough-sledding in their patented ground game.
The Green Wave’s bruising and tiring long drives of rush after rush were not productive against the Panthers, who flooded the line of scrimmage with big bodies up front and played a host of nimble linebackers and defensive backs right behind them. West Point started its drive in response on its own 12-yard line, and after Kingston Branham ran up the middle for a 7-yard gain, Brookhaven stabbed in what became the dagger. Thompson ran to his right like he was about to take off downfield, then stopped and looked left and lobbed a ball the other way. Brookhaven’s Jeremy Bibbs, high-pointed the ball and ran it back for pick-6.
The play sucked all of the air of West Point and left Brookhaven an unbreakable confidence stronger than steel, and its defense played that way for the remainder of the game.
West Point tried as best as it could to find a spark on offense but was bottled up on every possession in the fourth quarter. Despite outgaining Brookhaven 92-20 in offensive yards, West Point couldn’t sustain drives against the Panthers’ stalwart defense and went 1-of-3 on fourth-down conversions.
Thompson, a senior, finished his last high school game with 104 rushing yards on 15 carries, and Branham had 47 yards on 10 totes to lead a unit that produced 252 yards on the ground. West Point outgained Brookhaven 343-318 in total yards but was held to 1-of-11 on third-down attempts and 2-of-7 on fourth-down conversions.
“They are just a really good defense,” Morgan said. “They kind of bottled us up, the weather kind of bottled us up. We couldn’t really throw the ball and get them out of the box we were in, so it was just one of them nights. It was tough sledding on offense.”
It was the last hurrah for West Point’s large and talented senior class that features players like Thompson, Whitacre, and Mr. 5A Football award winner Jorden Rush. It’s a group that Morgan said he’ll miss, but couldn’t be happier with how they carried the Green Wave name.
“They’ve been a great group, and we are going to glorify God when everything don’t go right, so that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “All honor and glory to God when it goes good (and) when it goes bad. … (They) are a great group. They showed (the younger players) how to win, how to lead.”
West Point ended its season at 13-1 while Brookhaven moved to 12-2 and earned its second-ever state championship.
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