Heading into Week 3 of the football season, West Point finds itself in relatively unfamiliar territory.

For the first time since the 2017 season, which saw the Green Wave finish the year 15-0 for its ninth state championship, the team has moved through the majority of what head coach Brett Morgan calls the “Golden Triangle Gauntlet” undefeated at 2-0.

A narrow 9-7 victory over 4A powerhouse Louisville was their first over the Wildcats since the 2019 season, and last week’s 48-15 rout over Starkville was their first victory over the Yellow Jackets since 2020. Despite starting off 0-2 the last two years, it hasn’t had much impact on the team’s trajectory. The Green Wave still captured back-to-back state 5A championships and look primed to compete for three straight. So, instead of having to uplift his team this time of year, Morgan said he’s been trying to keep his team level-headed as they embark on the third leg of the gauntlet at 7 p.m. today in Macon, where the Tigers and Green Wave are set to clash in a showdown of the undefeated.

“It’s just such a fine line between being 2-0 and 0-2,” Morgan said. “It’s like the SEC and having to keep our kids upbeat last year because we were 0-2 and saying, ‘Look, we’re still a really fine football team. We’re learning about it and we’re going to keep plugging away at it one day at a time. The sky ain’t falling on us here.’ This year it’s the complete opposite. You’re 2-0 and everybody is patting you on the butt telling you how good you are, and you really don’t know how good you are. Nobody knows how good you are yet. We have to make sure we’re handling success and that was a big part of Monday, the 24-hour rule. Whether you win or lose, you enjoy it for 24 hours and you’re on to the next, and we’ve been on to Noxubee all week.”

Noxubee is also 2-0 on the season for the first time in a few years. The last undefeated start through two weeks for the Tigers was the 2022 campaign that finished with a state championship game appearance. The team still has its eyes on the elusive 3A championship, and with West Point coming to town, It’s not going to take much coachspeak to get Noxubee fired up for the Dispatch’s Game of the Week, head coach Teddy Young said.

“The energy is very high,” Young said. “Two undefeated teams; it’s another Golden Triangle matchup, a rivalry, so the kids are very excited about it.”

Familiar foes

West Point defeated Noxubee 20-18 last season for a narrow victory that increased their win streak over the Tigers to 12 games. Young said his team will have to put together a complete game in all phases if they want to break the trend.

“They are going to be big, physical; they’re not going to hurt themselves,” Young said. “They are not going to hurt themselves. They tackle very well defensively, they do not give up the big play that often, but they are going to run the football and play smash mouth so we have to be up for the task. … I always start with the trenches. We must win the offensive line and defensive line in the trenches. Defensively, we must tackle very well. Emphasis offensively is on not turning over the ball. (We) can’t give them short yardage and short fields, and we must be good in special teams.”

Noxubee started off its year with a 44-32 win over reigning 2A state champion Heidelberg, and then cruised to a 36-12 victory over Kemper County. Tiger running back Laderoun Mosely has been the bell cow for their offense, which has switched to a more ground-based attack after former Tiger quarterback Kamario Taylor graduated last season and took his talents to Mississippi State. Mosely has already amassed 405 yards on 36 carries, including 190 yards in last week’s 36-12 win over Kemper County, but it’s not just Mosely the Green Wave will have to keep in check if they want to improve to 3-0.   

“This year, talking to our defensive staff, they’re running the ball and playing defense; a little bit more of our brand. So, they’ve kind of switched gears with their personnel, which good coaches do, and they’re really dangerous in special teams,” Morgan said. “They are phenomenal at returning kicks; (Jadien Taylor), he’s Kamario’s brother, he’s a phenomenal player and a great kid. …He’s an explosive, phenomenal football player. Then (Mosely), the tailback in the kicking game, their kick return game; they’re really getting chunks and explosive plays, so we have to make sure we do a really good job on kickoff and punt and really minimize their explosives in the return game too.”

Even though Noxubee isn’t throwing the ball all over the yard like in years past, Morgan said their new focus on running the ball doesn’t make them any easier to defend – especially with Young still at the helm.

“They’re extremely well coached; they have championship pedigree,” Morgan said. “They were in the state championship (game) last year, they’ve already beaten the 2A state championship that had 19 starters back. Any state champion, no matter what level, that has 19 starters back is a very, very good football team, and they handled that team 44-32 – so over two scores. They’re just athletic. Defensively, they are going to be fast and physical running to the ball and tackling. (They) really get after you on defense, and offensively, coach (Teddy) Young does a great job of scheming you up. I think he’s one of the best playcallers in Mississippi. He’s a phenomenal offensive mind, and they do a good job and we know what we’re in store for – especially going down there. It’s always hard to win at Noxubee.”

The Green Wave are bringing their stout defense, which has held opponents to an average of 11 points a contest, and its roughshod running game, which produced 398 yards against Starkville last week, to Macon. Morgan said his team is a little “banged up” after two physical season-opening games, but is ready to get after the Tigers.

“We have the “down 14 points going in” mentality,” Morgan said. “We know we are going to have to overcome a lot of adversity and play really well and try to give ourselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter,” he said. … “It’s a big-time ball game for our community, for their community,” Morgan said. “We are going to have to play really, really well to be able to win.”

Tonight’s game will be the 55th all-time meeting between the two teams, and it’s an opportunity to halt a streak of losses to the Green Wave in a yearly matchup that “means a lot” to the Tigers.

“We haven’t beat them in a while,” Young said. “This senior group, they want to be the team that stops this losing streak, so I think the morale of the team is already high and I think it will just go to another level if we can pull out this win (tonight).”