After falling in the state championship game last season to Picayune, West Point is back for another run.

For the Green Wave (7-3), the postseason starts Friday night on home turf against Gentry, on a field where West Point went undefeated during the regular season save for a shootout loss to rival Starkville in early September.

“We’re a resilient bunch,” Green Wave head coach Chris Chambless said. “The guys want to win, they work hard and they’re highly coachable.”

Offensively, West Point has been led all season by running back Kahnen Daniels, a Florida commit who Thursday was named Mississippi’s Mr. Football for Class 5A. Daniels has racked up 1,930 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns in 10 games, including a 427-yard, seven-touchdown performance against Noxubee County.

But the Green Wave’s ground attack goes beyond just Daniels. Quinterion Tillman Evans has 642 rushing yards, averaging almost eight yards per carry, and 10 touchdowns, and Keimon Ewing has added 545 yards and six scores.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys who can tote the ball and catch it, do some things with it,” Chambless said. “That bunch as a whole, they are so unselfish. They pull for each other. It’s about the whole group.”

Defensively, lineman Zay Lowery leads the way for West Point with 11 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hurries, while Jermaine Elliot is the Green Wave’s top cover cornerback, with five pass breakups.

It’s a defense that is playing its best football of the season right now, allowing a combined 10 points in West Point’s last three games.

“The line of scrimmage is the heartbeat,” Chambless said. “That’s both on the offensive side and defensive side.”

The Rams (6-5) have had an up-and-down season, winning their first three games, losing their next three and alternating wins and losses since. Gentry has been eliminated in the first round each of the last two years.

“One of the strengths of their team is speed,” Chambless said. “The defensive front, they’re really active, they do a great job getting to the ball. The speed and athleticism is what stands out with them. That’s going to be a huge challenge for us this week. We just have to execute, block, tackle and hold onto the ball.”