Keshawn Henley was running with the ball, then he wasn’t, and then suddenly one of the linemen was rumbling down the field with it.
The play, with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, played a key role as West Point turned a tight, defensive contest against New Hope into a 31-0 victory. From across the field, however, it was difficult to figure out exactly what had transpired.
“We were running the play, and Keshawn fumbled the ball, and it went into a defender’s hand,” said Green Wave junior Andrew Fulgham, the aforementioned lineman. “I snatched the ball away from him, and I just started running.”
But linemen, in this case one listed at 5 feet, 11 inches and 230 pounds, are not known as sprinters.
“Halfway down the field I just ran out of adrenaline, and I got hauled down by a defender,” Fulgham said, adding that he had never been involved in that kind of play at any level of football.
But the moment wasn’t so stunning to him that his brain got too caught up in it.
“In my mind, the entire time I was thinking of what coach (Brett) Morgan said, ‘High and tight, high and tight.’” Fulgham said, referring to how to protect the football.
The end result was a 21-yard run that set up first-and-goal for West Point. Two plays later, it was 17-0, and the Green Wave got on a roll.
“It should have been 60-0,” Fulgham said. “We couldn’t get our offense going in the first half, but we came out here ready to play in the second half, and we just dominated.”
— Tom Rysinski
Cheerier than usual
Starkville Academy held an elementary cheer camp from Monday-Thursday last week, and fans at Friday night’s game against Magnolia Heights received a little bit extra as a result.
Before the game, the SA cheerleaders showcased the routines that they and their cheer campers had learned over the past week.
Maybe it did some good. The Vols rolled to a 35-14 win.
— Tanner Marlar
Taking advantage of mistakes, even your own
Talk of cutting down on penalties and turnovers peppers postgame conversations of any coach whose team had at least one penalty or one turnover, but West Point seemed to thrive on responding to those negative plays.
The Green Wave fumbled on the opening drive of the third quarter Friday night against New Hope, but a quick three-and-out gave them the ball right back, and a nine-play, 72-yard drive soon pushed the lead from 3-0 to 10-0.
Early in the fourth, it was West Point getting a takeaway on an interception by senior Fred McMillian, but a personal foul on the play pushed the Green Wave back 15 yards. No problem. It took just four plays to make it 17-0.
Following another three-and-out, the Green Wave took over on the New Hope 15 after a punt return by Amari Cox. Keshawn Henley promptly swept right, getting a great block from Cox, and scored on the very next play. But that was called back by a holding call. A holding call one play later pushed West Point back to the 26. Again, no problem, as Kahnen Daniels found Jamarquez Shun Melton in the end zone for a 24-0 edge.
The game, which had been so tight for so long, was basically over, but the defense wasn’t done. Trojans quarterback Ty Crowell was chased out of bounds for a sack, and the 11-yard loss set up third-and-19 from the New Hope 6. But West Point was flagged for a personal foul on a late hit on the play, giving New Hope a third-and-4. Again, no problem, as the Green Wave stuffed Ladarius Tate to force a punt. It was Henley who made the big play on the ensuing drive, bouncing off of would-be tacklers and sprinting 55 yards down the sideline to set up a 3-yard TD run. The drive took less than 2 minutes, and it was 31-0.
West Point coach Chris Chambless doesn’t want to see those kinds of penalties again, but it must be nice to know your team can overcome them.
— Tom Rysinski
Learning from the master
That the Green Wave played such an outstanding defensive game against his team was no surprise to New Hope coach Seth Stillman. After all, West Point’s program is more or less a model for what Stillman is trying to do with the Trojans, as the first-year head coach was an assistant with the Green Wave for four seasons.
“Matt Snow is the best defensive coordinator in the state of Mississippi, and it’s not even close,” Stillman said after his team was on the wrong end of a 31-0 shutout. “He’s unbelievable. He’s my mentor; he taught me everything I know. Everything I brought to New Hope were things that he taught me about defense, him and Roger Burton both.
“They took me under their wing when I was here, and I tried to bring that type of defense and that type of effort to New Hope. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
— Tom Rysinski
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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 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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