WEST POINT — The Starkville High School football team handed West Point its only defeat before the Green Wave marched to their second Class 5A state championship in a row last season.
West Point made amends for that setback Friday night with a dominating defensive performance in a 33-12 victory at McCallister Field.
“Nobody works harder during the offseason than we do,” West Point junior running back Tez Lane said. “Nobody does the some of the drills we do. It is like a boot camp at times. Because of all of that hard work, it is great to finally get the first victory of the season. It was a long time coming.”
West Point, which forced three second-half turnovers, lost its first two games for the first time since 2000. On Friday, the Green Wave made sure the streak stopped there thanks to the squad”s best offensive drive of the season.
Protecting a 20-12 third-quarter lead, the Green Wave marched 80 yards on 17 plays. The drive took 8 minutes, 17 seconds off the clock. It also broke the competitive spirit of the Yellow Jackets.
“We had to find their breaking point,” West Point senior quarterback DeQuinten Spraggins said. “It came to us at halftime. There were a couple of plays they couldn”t find a way to stop. Their defense was not what we expected it to be, so we had to work around into some new formations. We did a good job of executing in the second half and pulled out the win.”
The turning point might have come one possession earlier.
Again with the score 20-12, Starkville moved 71 yards on six plays. Running back Devin Mitchell got the call on a first-down rush from West Point 12. As Mitchell went airborne, he attempted to stick the football across the plane of the goal line, but he fumbled. The officials ruled the change of possession took place before the touchdown. Josh Anderson made the fumble recovery in the end zone for a West Point touchback.
“We will watch the film and then we will know if it was a fumble,” Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell said. “The kids fought hard, but that play was the difference in the ballgame. The score is 20-12, so basically we are a touchdown and two-point play away from tying the game. Instead, West Point gets the football. It was hard to come back from that.”
The fumble recovery was the first of three takeaways by the Green Wave defense. Charles Heard and Freddie Reed had the follow-up fumble recoveries as Starkville saw three consecutive second-half possessions end in lost fumbles.
An inability to hang on to the football combined with West Point”s running game meant doom for Starkville. In the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets only had seven offensive plays. In the second half, West Point ran 32 offensive plays and scored 13 points, compared to 20 plays and no points for Starkville.
“That is West Point football,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “We pride ourselves on running the football, controlling the clock, and taking the attack to the other team. I was really proud of our effort in the second half. We went to another level when the game was on the line.”
Starkville (2-2) went 66 yards on seven plays to score on its opening possession. Gabe Myles capped the drive with a 5-yard quarterback keeper. The kick failed and Starkville led 6-0.
West Point (1-2) answered on the game”s next offensive play, as Spraggins hit William Harrell on an 80-yard touchdown. That play brought the capacity home crowd alive and Eric Lemus” kick made it 7-6.
Starkville moved back in the red zone on the team”s third possession. However, a 25-yard field goal try by Charlie Henderson was blocked by Nelson McIntosh.
The Yellow Jackets grabbed a 12-7 advantage in the opening minute of the second quarter. This time, Stanley Higgins capped a 73-yard, six-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown rush.
Again, it appeared West Point had the equalizer. Harrell ran the ensuing kickoff back 99 yards, only to have a holding penalty cut the return down to 60 yards.
Not deterred, the Green Wave mounted another monster drive minutes later. This time, the hosts moved 95 yards on six plays. A 65-yard keeper on a declined option pitch by Spraggins was the big play of the march. Lane”s 6-yard touchdown run gave the hosts a 14-12 lead with 3:14 left before halftime.
West Point went back to the march on its opening possession of the third quarter. With its new offensive game plan in place, the Green Wave marched 65 yards on three plays. The big play was a 50-yard hookup from Spraggins to T.J. Minor. Lane”s second touchdown came from 16 yards out and created the 20-12 advantage.
“In the second half, we found an offensive rhythm,” Spraggins said. “The same thing happened last week (in a 35-27 overtime loss to Columbus). We have to find a way to be more consistent throughout the game. I thought we really took a step forward tonight.”
Spraggins was 5 of 11 for 183 yards. The Green Wave ran the ball 41 times for 215 yards. Spraggins also had a team-high 86 yards on nine keeps. Lane had 11 rushes for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
Aeris Williams capped the 17-play drive with a 3-yard run. The final Starkville fumble gave West Point a short field. Mario Virges capped the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown rush with 2:13 left.
Starkville held a 314-293 advantage in total yards. However, the Yellow Jackets only garnered 105 yards in the final 24 minutes. Starkville ran 32 times for 142 yards, while the Yellow Jackets were 9 of 19 for 172 yards through the air.
West Point will play next week at Noxubee County, while Starkville will have an open date.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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