GLUCKSTADT — Facing a fourth down-and-long late in Friday night’s Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State playoff opener at Germantown, West Point High School football coach Chris Chambless had a decision to make.
With his Green Wave leading by seven points with nine minutes remaining, Chambless could punt from Germantown’s 31-yard line and pin the Mavericks deep in their territory or he could go for it in an attempt to score the game-clinching touchdown.
In making his decision, Chambless turned his team’s chances over to senior quarterback Dason Thomas and wide receiver Steffon Moore.
Thomas dropped back and lobbed a pass over the middle to a streaking Moore, who made his career-high ninth catch and jogged into the end zone to score the back-breaking touchdown that propelled West Point to a 28-14 win.
“It was a great call,” said Moore, the Green Wave’s most reliable target. “We saw earlier in the game that the middle of the field would be open, and the coaches chose to throw in my direction. Dason made a great throw.”
The 31-yard pass epitomized a dominant effort by West Point’s passing game, which overwhelmed Germantown from the start. Behind Thomas, who was 13 of 19, and Moore, who had 135 yards receiving, West Point went to the air early and often, which was counter to the team’s usual ground-and-pound mind-set on offense.
Asked about the decision to go for it on fourth down, Chambless affirmed his belief in Thomas and Moore.
“It was a no-brainer,” Chambless said. “Even if it gets intercepted there, it’s basically a punt. But I felt good in giving Steffon a chance to make a play. If you throw it up, he’s usually going to come down with it.”
Moore has been West Point’s biggest deep threat, but Friday was his best effort. Three times West Point opted to go for it on fourth down. Thomas threw the ball in Moore’s direction on all three. Those passes resulted in three completions, three first downs, and a 14-point win. Moore leads West Point with 35 catches for 638 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I love being the guy that is trusted to make a play,” Moore said. “It’s important to me, so when that ball is in the air, all I’m thinking about is making a play for my team.”
Moore did that frequently against Germantown, which tied the game at 14 early in the third quarter. But Thomas, a 5-foot-8 quarterback, wouldn’t be denied. After halftime, Thomas completed all five of his passes for 95 yards. Four of the completions went to Moore.
“Dason was great tonight,” Moore said. “He threw the ball well and made it easy for us.”
In addition to Moore’s strong performance, senior wide receiver Kaelon Collins had a 19-yard catch to set up a first-and-goal for West Point in the first half.
Moore had at least one catch on all four of West Point’s scoring drives, and he was especially pivotal in the second half. On West Point’s second drive of the third quarter, a seven-play march that culminated in a 10-yard touchdown run by Tyler Logan to give the Green Wave a 21-14 lead, Moore had two catches for 54 yards (32, 22). On the game-clinching drive, the one he capped with the 31-yard touchdown catch, Moore had three catches for 51 yards.
The efforts in the passing game helped make up for injured tailback Kadarius Forside, who was lost on the second play of the game. Without Forside, who has rushed for 734 yards in seven games, the Green Wave had to lean on Thomas and Moore and senior Demontae Rush, who had a career-high 176 rushing yards on 23 carries.
“Credit to our kids for fighting through adversity tonight,” Chambless said.
With the win, West Point advances to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs for the fifth time in the past six years. West Point will play host to Region 1 champion Oxford, which earned a 43-22 win in West Point on Sept. 26. It’s a matchup West Point’s players have wanted since that loss.
“We’ve been wanting another shot at them all season,” Moore said. “Now we have it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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