CLARKSDALE — Coming into Thursday night’s road district game against Clarksdale, West Point had lost just three district games since the beginning of the 2015 season.

That included two separate winning streaks of 18 or more, including a 36-game district winning streak from 2015-2020.

However, the Green Wave’s current 18-game in-district winning streak came to a halt on Thursday as West Point fell to the Wildcats, 27-21.

“We knew coming in that Clarksdale was a good team,” head coach Chris Chambless said. “… I don’t think we were prepared mentally. We went up there, we were focused, but I don’t think deep down we were ready to play. That’s on me. I gotta do a better job as a head coach to get our guys prepared to play.”

West Point (4-3, 1-1 in district) was playing from behind from the start, down as much as 20-0 in the first half before a touchdown run from senior Kahnen Daniels gave the Green Wave some life going into the break, down 20-7.

Things started much better in the second half as West Point came out with a score to cut the lead to 20-14, but another Clarksdale touchdown with under seven minutes left in the game sealed the deal.

“We have to move on to the next game,” Chambless said. “That’s what I told the guys last night. This game is over with. There’s nothing we can do about, but what we can do is do what we can to affect our next game. We just have to take it one game at a time.” 

 

Vardaman 37, West Lowndes 0

The start of district play was a rough one for West Lowndes on Thursday night, losing a key starter in senior Gary Brewer early on.

Brewer’s absence proved massive for a team whose depth is already stretched thin. Quarterback Dekambi Evans Smart was unable to pick up the workload on his end, and the points from Vardaman kept piling up.

Using their home field to their advantage, the Rams avenged a 33-point loss last season with a 37-0 shutout victory this season.

“Our schedule has been a tough schedule,” head coach Anthony King said. “Last week was a physical game that got away from us late, and we had another physical game last night. My guys are worn down, beat up.”

This season has been a tough one to go through for the Panthers (2-5, 0-1), having struggled in non-district play and getting off on the wrong foot in district play.

West Lowndes only has three district games to prove itself and clinch a spot in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A playoffs, and one has already resulted in a loss, the first shutout loss of the season for the Panthers.

They now have an extra day to prepare for next week, searching for that all-important first district win at home against Okolona.

“Nobody is going to feel sorry for you,” King said. “You just have to go out and play. … There are three really good teams in our district. We have to come out and play all the way through.”