For the last 10 years, West Point has run the gauntlet.
Each of those football seasons for the Green Wave began with a murderer’s row of tough non-conference opponents before moving into another difficult stretch of region games before the beginning of the playoffs. And every one of the last 10 years for West Point has all ended with the team playing for glory and the coveted golden football trophy in the MHSAA state championship.
That’s just the West Point way.
Thirteen times the program has been victorious in that game – a state record – and today at 7:30 p.m. the Green Wave kickoff inside Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium against Brookhaven for an opportunity to claim their 14th Class 5A state championship, complete the last leg of the program’s second-ever three-peat, and finish the year undefeated for the first time since the 2017 season. The last time the Green Wave played at Davis Wade was a 29-8 victory over Laurel that ignited the program’s run to 10 straight championship game appearances.
Vibes are high
After shutting down Holmes County Central’s prolific offense last week in the North Half championship game, the jubilation of playing at Davis Wade didn’t take long to set in. Players were jumping up and down in celebration when the clock hit zero, and in the locker room after the game loud and energetic music thundered throughout the building, only being broken up by the sound of the team singing and dancing along.
West Point carried that same energy over into this week and have been battling hard and excitedly at practice.
“It’s like Christmas week, the best week of the year, and we cherish this opportunity (because) you never know, we may never get here again,” head coach Brett Morgan said. “A lot of players and coaches play this game a long time and don’t get an opportunity to be in this game and experience this, so man, we’re just so excited. This year has nothing to do with the past years. This is 2025, it stands alone by itself, and we get our shot to play (tonight) and we’ve got to go take that shot and make it count.”
Throwback to 2010
The Panthers and the Green Wave have only played once before – that was in the 2010 state championship game. West Point rolled to a 21-3 victory for its 7th state title and the second of back-to-back championships, but that was 15 years ago. A lot of time has passed since then and the programs have gone through their appropriate changes as time commands. Brookhaven has been through four coaching changes and is under the first-year leadership of Darien Dorsey. He’s coached his team to an 11-2 record and to their first championship game appearance since 2010. Morgan taking the reins at West Point in 2024 has been the only head coaching change for the Green Wave since then, and he’s carried on their tradition of excellence by winning last year’s title and having his squad primed to win another.
The Panthers have been playoff mainstays since then, only missing the 2014 and the 2022 postseasons, but only made the South Half semifinals one time – a 37-35 loss to Gautier last year. This year Brookhaven is led by dual-threat quarterback Jaden Allen, who has 21 touchdown throws, 1,824 passing yards, 805 rushing yards and 16 scores under his belt; running back Caiden Quarles, who leads the team with 1,050 yards and 15 touchdowns; and receivers Dreamus Harron and Timmothy Smith, who have combined for 1,060 yards and 11 touchdown grabs. On offense the team averages 33 points per game and scored 55, 42 and 31 points against Northeast Jones, Wayne County and Laurel, respectively, to gain entrance into today’s contest, which will feature two of the best defenses in the state. The Panthers bring a lockdown defense as well on that side of the ball, only allowing nine points a game. In its three playoff wins, Brookhaven kept all three foes to under seven points and hasn’t allowed two touchdowns in a game since Oct. 24.
“Brookhaven is just hard-nosed, tough kids. They play really good defense,” he said. … “These are the two best defenses in the state, bar none, and so defense wins championships, running the ball wins championships. They run the ball; they average 33 points a game. They’ve got a dynamic playmaker at quarterback (Allen) that, man he’s just explosive. He is an incredible athlete. They just have playmakers all over the field, and then their special teams is extremely good. Their return game is incredible. .. It’s a state championship football game; it’s what you expect. You turn the film on and they have a fine football team.”
Bruising defense, punishing offense
When it comes to domination on both sides of the ball, West Point has been the Mississippi standard all season. Ball carriers Michael Williams, Quintin Thompson, Kingston Branham and quarterback Colt Whitacre have all chipped in heavily to help the Green Wave produce an average of 37 points per contest. Thompson was the bell-cow carrier against Holmes last week as he picked up 148 yards on 18 runs, and threw a touchdown pass to Amahd Brown, but it was Branham who found the end zone twice on the ground to help West Point advance. They’ve been yardage and points producers against everyone the team has faced, including wins over Tupelo, which is playing for the 7A championship, Noxubee County, which is playing for the 3A state championship, and Louisville, which fell just short in the 4A semifinals. West Point’s unselfishness on offense makes them hard to slow down, Morgan said.
“If any of them were worried about stats it wouldn’t work because we roll our backs; we keep them fresh. We know we are going to play hopefully a 14-game season, so we try to keep everybody fresh and keep a lot of backs and ball carriers and quarterbacks and wideouts involved. In doing that, it takes an unselfish approach. I’m just really proud of the unselfishness and how it’s all about team first and me second.”
On defense, West Point, which only gives up an average of nine points per game, has been a lockdown unit all season and has shut down some of the state’s best offenses. Holmes County, which set a school record for scoring 508 points in a season, was held to just six points last week. Three different teams have been held scoreless by the vaunted Green Wave, five teams have only found paydirt once against them and five other teams have managed to land only two touchdowns. Tupelo’s 21 points are the most points the Green Wave have allowed all season.
“Our keys of the game don’t change defensively,” Morgan said. “You have to line up right, run to the ball and tackle and play relentless four-quarter football. You have to play through the emotional rollercoaster that is the state championship. There’s going to be highs and lows. It’s like a rivalry game, it’s like a college game – the stadium goes nuts every time somebody scores. It’s just a different air, a different feel in the state championship game, so you have to play through that when it doesn’t go your way.”
Be ‘men of character’
Ahead of the season’s final game, Morgan laid out what he wants to see from his team in their final and most important showing: Clean and great football while also being a class act.
“First thing is to glorify God in what we do and how we act and behave, good and bad,” Morgan said. “We want to be men of character and men of Christ, and the second thing is to be my brother’s keeper. Be at the standard for four quarters and have my brother’s back. Don’t whine and complain if something goes wrong, go to the next play and pick each other up and play with great emotion for four quarters and let the chips fall where they may.”
You can help your community
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 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
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 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
