LOUISVILLE — “Confidence, we work it every day.”

West Point head coach Brett Morgan had every belief in his kicker, Charlie Harrell, to drill the go-ahead field goal on the road at Louisville on Friday. His earlier miss was the difference in the game to that point, so it was only fitting that he gave his team the win.

“He missed the extra point, but we practice it every single day, and we expected him to make the kick, and he went out and executed,” Morgan said. “It was an excellent, clutch kick.”

It wasn’t over just yet, but the momentum carried over to the defense.

Facing a 4th and 10, Wildcats quarterback Triston Edwards had no options downfield. He took off for the first down marker and landed just short on the West Point sideline.

The Green Wave, now 1-0, sealed a 9-7 win with the last of several defensive stops.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win from a program that knows everything about winning.

“If you can beat Louisville, you enjoy it,” Morgan said. “It’s going to show you a lot on the film, what we need to do to learn about ourselves. We can coach better, play better. We’re going to get better from it. We knew that coming in, but to be able to get a win, it’s an incredible feeling.”

The Green Wave entered the season as the defending back-to-back Class 5A champions, with one of their few losses in 2024 coming at home against the Wildcats. Louisville came away 15-14 winners that day, and the difference was only one more point this time around. It’s a sign of the quality of the two programs, the players, and their championship-winning head coaches.

“It’s two classic teams playing each other in the first game,” Louisville head coach Tyrone Shorter said. “I think both teams have to clean some stuff up, but it’s always going to come down to the wire. It comes down to who makes the least mistakes, and we made some mistakes tonight.”

Both teams converted on their respective opening drives, with the Green Wave scoring first through running back Michael Williams before the Wildcats answered with their back, Zaiden Jernigan. A missed point-after attempt by West Point was the only difference on the scoreboard.

It became a bit of a standoff after that, with the Green Wave hindered by penalties while the Wildcats had two drives ended by a turnover and then the halftime buzzer.

The deadlock continued into the second half, and the Green Wave defense stood tall with a goalline stop early in the fourth quarter. The ensuing drive took them to the Wildcat 24, but a go-ahead touchdown run by Quintin Thompson was called back for holding.

The Green Wave faced a 4th-and-16 to stay alive with the clock ticking, and quarterback Colt Whitacre found Justin White for a 20-yard pickup. They couldn’t find the end zone, but Charlie Harrell made up for his missed PAT with a 27-yard field goal to give his team the lead with three minutes to play.

West Point’s defense forced a turnover on downs to wrap up a big win to start the season.

“Defense did an incredible job,” Morgan said. “Goalline stand after roughing the punter, I mean we made enough mistakes to lose it, but our defense kept us in it. Offensively, way too many penalties, but proud of our team finding a way to win against a really good opponent.”

Morgan’s team will head home for their next matchup, a local non-district rivalry game with 7A power Starkville. The Green Wave will host the Jackets at 7 p.m. Friday in West Point.

West Point 9, Louisville 7

                   Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FINAL

West Point:   6 0 0 3 — 9

Louisville:     7 0 0 0 — 7

First quarter

WP — Michael Williams run 1 (Charlie Harrell kick no good), 8:00

L — Zaiden Jernigan 16 run (43 kick), 2:20

Fourth quarter

WP — Harrell 27 field goal, 3:14