After West Point allowed Center Hill to score on its first play from scrimmage in last week’s home game, the Green Wave turned to a saying on which they rely heavily.
“Play the next play,” coach Chris Chambless said. “Play the next play regardless of what happens. Just play your next play as hard as you can. Good things will happen.”
Last week, that led to a 40-21 win that sent West Point — which has won the past four MHSAA Class 5A titles — to the postseason. Unlike past years, though, the Green Wave (7-3) open on the road.
“We haven’t had to do it in a while, for sure, but we consider ourselves very fortunate to have a shot to play in the playoffs, especially with it being a COVID year,” Chambless said.
He said his team is “up to the challenge” posed by a trip to Lexington to face Holmes County Central (7-2). The Jaguars boast two future college star defensive backs: Mississippi State commit Corey Ellington and LSU pledge Khamauri Rogers.
But that won’t change West Point’s offensive modus operandi: establish the run and knock the other team off the ball.
“We’re going to stick with what we’ve been doing,” Chambless said. “We’re going to stick to what our normal game plan is.”
Booneville (6-2) at Noxubee County (7-1)
Noxubee County will have to start faster than it did last week to beat Booneville in Friday’s Class 3A second-round playoff game.
The Tigers’ offense wasn’t a problem in the 54-6 win over Byhalia, coach Teddy Young said, but the defense allowed an opening-drive touchdown. That will have to change as the level of competition increases with each passing week.
Booneville, which beat Nettleton 14-6 two weeks ago and had a bye last week, is the latest threat. The Blue Devils peaked at four straight wins in the middle of the season before a loss to Amory on Oct. 23.
Young said Booneville has a fairly standard offense with a slight predisposition for the pass. Shutting down the Blue Devils’ run game and keeping signal caller John Daniel Deaton in check will be fundamental for Noxubee County.
“We have to win in the trenches, and we have to contain the quarterback,” Young said.
West Lowndes (4-5) at Biggersville (10-0)
Once again, West Lowndes opens the Class 1A playoffs with a road game at Biggersville.
The Panthers will hope this season’s contest goes better than last year’s.
Biggersville knocked out West Lowndes 44-6 in the first round in 2019 and has only improved since. The Lions’ most tightly contested wins this season came by 26 and 27 points;their third-closest game was a 52-0 shutout of Myrtle.
“They’re just so much stronger than we are,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We have to get in that weight room to be able to compete with the better teams in 1A.”
But Biggersville hasn’t played the past two weeks due to COVID-19 outbreaks with opponents H.W. Byers and Thrasher. West Lowndes, which had to forfeit one game and cancel another for an undisclosed reason, knows what that’s like.
“It’s hard to make up for two weeks when you weren’t doing anything,” King said.
With their season on the line, the Panthers hope to improve on last year’s playoff showing, but that won’t be easy.
“It’ll be a tough task, and we just have to be ready to play,” King said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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