West Point, Noxubee County and New Hope all added another check in the win column last week behind strong performances on offense and defense as they turn their attention to the close of the regular season. For Columbus, a late interception cost the team a chance at its second win of the season.
West Point 51, Caledonia 7
West Point improved to 8-0 Friday as it cruised to victory over Caledonia in a Region 1-5A contest.
Like most games this season, the Green Wave ran in a bunch of touchdowns and got a passing score from quarterback Colt Whitacre to Justin White for its most points scored in a game since the 2023 season. Whitacre finished the game with 105 yards on 7-of-10 passing.
“We played well and did everything that we talked about wanting to do,” West Point head coach Brett Morgan said. “We played at our standard, and (I’m) happy with that. So, (I) was pretty pleased with how we approached the game, not many complaints from me on that.
“We were clean. We were able to spread the ball-carrier around offensively. Colt had a really good night, so offensively we did a good job executing and played well on offense and played well on defense. Just pleased with how we played and executed in all three phases.”
Defensively, it was the second time this season that West Point has held a team to just seven points and the unit has only given up 89 points on the year.
“Defense is playing well. I think we’re getting better on both sides of the ball and getting better on special teams,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing, we want to keep improving week to week. We’ve gotten some guys back who’ve been injured the last few weeks, so we’ve gotten a little more depth now on that side of the ball. Our coaches are hungry, our kids are hungry and we’re just continuing to claw and trying to get a little bit better and our defense has done a great job of that. You can see them improving every week.”
Against that vaunted Green Wave defense, the Cavaliers offense struggled to move the ball and were held to their fewest points scored in a game all season.
“There’s a reason (West Point is) the No. 1 team in the state,” Caledonia head coach Michael Kelly said. “They are pretty good in all facets of the game, and certainly they came out the other night and played and looked like the No. 1 team in the state. … The score got out of hand. I don’t think we played well from the get-go, I think we got overwhelmed a little bit. (We) had to play too much defense in the first half. We could not get out of our own way, and tip your hat, West Point made a few plays defensively on us, but we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds.”
The loss for the Cavs (1-7, 1-2) is their second in a row. Caledonia plays at Lafayette on Friday and hosts rival New Hope on Nov. 6 to close out the regular season, and Kelly and the team are fighting to stack some wins as the playoffs loom.
“We’ve got to play better,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to flush that, too, and move on to this week. We’ve got a big region game coming up and we have to get ready for it.”
The win for West Point sets up a showdown at New Hope on Friday for the region championship.
Noxubee County 46, Nettleton 13
It’s not every day when your quarterback throws for four touchdowns then catches two scores at wide receiver, but that’s just how Jadien Taylor plays football at Noxubee County.
Normally a receiver and member of the Tigers’ secondary, Taylor switched drives with quarterback Jykeim Goodwin under center throughout the game to help lead the team to its most points scored all season in a Region 4-3A contest. Taylor finished with 165 yards on 6-of-7 passing and only needed three catches to produce 108 yards receiving with two touchdowns. Goodwin was 5-of-5 and also threw for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Chadrick Skinner, Christon Glenn, Cameron Chandler, Keon Mason and GerQuavious Parks all caught one touchdown pass.
“We clicked in the passing game and did a real good job of giving the quarterback time and receivers got open this week, we didn’t have those dropped balls,” head coach Teddy Young said. “So, offense clicked very well, special teams still did a good thing and defense we gave up a score. Like what I always be preaching to them, ‘We are just trying to play our best ball now heading into the last final game of the regular season and into the playoffs.’”
It wasn’t just the offense making plays in the game, the Tigers’ defense also showed out as well. Skinner snagged an interception, and BJ Payton recovered a fumble to kill two Nettleton drives.
“The defense has been our strong point. I think they have been the leaders of the team,” Young said.” They do a great job of giving us extra possessions. I think every game they get at least two turnovers a game and those are great possessions for us to steal a possession. They’ve been our leading point, so what we’re focused on now is trying to limit the big plays. Most times when people score on us it’s from big plays. If we just cut that down and continue to get turnovers we will be very special defensively heading into the playoffs.”
Noxubee (6-2, 2-1) plays at Aberdeen on Friday for the regular-season finale with a small chance to win the district championship. Winona, who defeated Choctaw County last week and owns a win over Noxubee, is first in the region. Young said if the Tigers win on Friday and Winona loses then his squad will take the region title. Either way, Noxubee will be ready when the postseason begins.
“They’re feeling good,” Young said of his team. “This is the time where you have to play your best ball. It’s win or go home, that’s the mentality we’re about to lock into.”
New Hope 20, Pontotoc 0
Thanks to what New Hope head coach Allen Glenn called his team’s best defensive performance of the season, the Trojans overcame a series of turnovers with a strong rushing attack to shut out the Warriors in a Region 1-5A game.
Running back Jacob Jefferson ran for 90 yards and a score on 12 carries and he hauled in two catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. Jeremiah Harkins ran in the team’s third touchdown of the night. On defense the team posted two takeaways, a fumble and an interception.
“I thought our guys flew around and executed the defensive calls and played really physically. So, definitely one of our better performances defensively all year.”
The Trojans’ offense, despite the turnovers, managed to stay on the field for extended drives throughout the game, chewing up the clock and finding ways to break free and score. The team battled some adversity, but Glenn said overcoming those moments Friday made them a better team.
“I told our guys after the game, ‘You win in a lot of different ways, and it was good to see us win a football kind of in a different way than we’ve done it this year, honestly.’ So, that was good to see this late in the year with a couple of games left in the division.”
The Trojans (6-2, 3-0) will collide at home with West Point on Friday for the conference title.
Lafayette 27, Columbus 14
Down 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, Columbus was driving down the field when Dkyren Henderson’s pass was intercepted and returned for what became too much for the Falcons to overcome after rallying from a 14-0 deficit at halftime.
The loss is the team’s (1-7, 0-3) seventh straight and is the third time this season Columbus has been held to 14 points.
“Those type of mistakes you can’t have and you have to eliminate,” head coach Barrin Simpson said. “I think the biggest thing is, our kids have to buy into the culture we’re trying to set. If they buy in, man we could be a really good football team.
“A lot of times we are right there, we’re just not making enough plays to get it done. The playmakers we have have got to make plays. Plays have to be made on the field and we have to take advantage of the opportunities when we get them.”
There are two games left for the Falcons to try and capture their second win of the year, including a game against visiting Pontotoc on Friday. Simpson wants to see the effort to win out there the rest of the way.
“The main thing you want to see is them go out there and compete and improve,” he said. “Every game we go into we are trying to win the ball game, but just continuing to improve and fight. You have to go out and play each game and fight to play to win.”
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