WEST POINT — The Friday night lights turn on in West Point tonight as the 5A state champion Green Wave faces a tough test against defending 4A state champions Louisville on Friday night. It’s a chance for revenge as well as a first win under first-year head coach Brett Morgan, after the Green Wave suffered a difficult 35-13 defeat a year ago.
That game proved to be an important early test in shaping an eventual 5A championship team, and that’s exactly why they scheduled one of the best teams in the state for the first game.
“That’s how you get better,” head coach Brett Morgan said. “You can only learn so much about yourself from practice and there’s no replacing the in-game reps. You’ve got to play to learn, it’s part of the process of getting better as a football team.”
Morgan and the Green Wave are coming from a jamboree game against Brandon, a preseason favorite to win the 7A state championship. The Bulldogs won 21-0 as costly errors on special teams and offensive inefficiency cost them in the two-quarter test, but it was an experience Morgan is thankful for.
“It didn’t turn out like we wanted it to on the scoreboard, but we got the work in that we needed to,” he said. “We found out a little about ourselves, schematically and executing. We did some good things offensively and defensively, but we made too many mistakes.”
Morgan said that despite a couple of bumps and bruises there aren’t any injuries going into Week One, but that there has been a teamwide focus on conditioning. With the late summer heat and dry weather, there is a chance a lot of games across the state are stopped for cramps and muscle injuries on Friday. It’s another factor in preparation for the new season, and one of the last things under their control against a Louisville team that hasn’t lost since 2022.
“It’s just typical West Point and Louisville,” he said of preparation for the game. “We need to protect the ball and be efficient on offense. They’re very good on defense, they play it like it’s supposed to be played. We need to block, run our feet, and defensively we’ve got to be sound and run to the ball ourselves. It’s a four-quarter game and it’ll come down to conditioning, hydration, taking care of ourselves so we’re not cramping up so we can play for all four quarters because that’s what it takes to beat Louisville.”
It’s a big moment for Morgan in his professional career, his first game as a head coach, but he made a point of not making it about himself. He is locked in with his team and wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I know it is a big game, but every game is huge, and we can’t approach it differently,” he said. “We’re head down, focused on getting better every day and it’s all about the Green Wave. How I approach it is how I want the team to approach it, and with this schedule we play, that’s all you can do so we can be at our best on Friday.”
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 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
