NEW HOPE — It was the night before Halloween when the four-headed monster emerged.
That’s what West Point running backs Cameron Young, JaKobe Pate, Chris Ivy and Keshawn Henley call themselves, anyway.
And after their fearsome performance Friday night at New Hope, the moniker is likely to stick.
All four backs scored touchdowns — including two for Henley — and the Green Wave defense cracked down in a dominant 41-0 win over the Trojans (2-7).
“We played flawless,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said.
All evening, it was true. Henley ran for two touchdowns in the first six minutes as the Green Wave (6-3) scored 21 points in the first quarter alone to put the Trojans in a hole.
“It’s always huge when you start fast,” Chambless said. “That’s what we try to do each week: start fast and then stay on top.”
West Point managed that with an excellent combination of sustained drives and big plays on offense and a defense that pitched a shutout and allowed only XX first downs. The Green Wave’s defense even outscored the Trojans’ offense thanks to an interception returned for a touchdown by Daveon Rice in the second quarter.
“Offense put a lot of points on the board,” said Ivy, a junior. “Defense put seven on the board. We did our thing.”
As West Point rebounded from two straight losses with its second straight win, those on the home sideline experienced a familiar feeling: being beaten soundly by the powerhouse Green Wave. Chambless and New Hope coach Wade Tackett even agreed on a running clock for the second half with West Point up 35-0 at halftime.
“We just ran up against a better team tonight,” Tackett said.
Itawamba Agricultural, Center Hill, Lafayette and Lake Cormorant are among the more talented teams to have defeated the Trojans this year, but as usual, West Point stands out, Tackett said.
“They’ve got all 11 guys on either side of the ball going after it hard every play,” he said. “In high school football, that’s hard to beat.”
It was for a depleted Trojans team — already hurt by injuries on defense — that had to deal with another obstacle Friday. Tackett said five offensive starters — a tight end, two offensive guards, a running back and a wide receiver — were all out due to COVID-19 contact tracing guidelines.
The losses certainly affected the Trojans, Tackett said, but New Hope readied its reserves for such situations and didn’t perform up to par.
“We prep for it, and these guys had their opportunity,” Tackett said.
Most of the Trojans’ opportunities Friday, though, came with New Hope already trailing big. A short kickoff by New Hope gave West Point the ball at the Trojans’ 43, and it took just five plays before Henley went right for a 23-yard score.
New Hope went for it on fourth-and-12 from its own 25 on the ensuing possession, and an incomplete pass gave the ball back to West Point. It was one of several occasions on which Tackett and the Trojans refused to punt on fourth down, figuring they needed to alter the course of the game early on.
“We’ve got to do something to try and change the momentum game and all that,” Tackett said.
Instead, West Point set up deep in Trojans territory, and Henley’s 6-yard score to double the lead came just three plays later.
The sophomore back finished with four carries for 39 yards and earned some praise from his head coach for stepping up.
“He’s come along for us,” Chambless said of Henley. “He’s doing what we needed him to do. To give us that added depth, it helps us keep our other guys this late in the season healthy. That’s been huge for us to be able to count on somebody else to keep our other guys from getting banged up so much. Our running backs, they take a beating when we play the tough football we play.”
But if the Green Wave rushers are indeed taking a beating, they’re not showing it.
Ivy had 116 yards, including a 6-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter, on seven carries. Young had 33 yards and a 6-yard touchdown on four attempts, and Pate finished with 15 yards on three carries, including a 3-yard touchdown.
“Our offense did well tonight,” Chambless said. “I was real pleased with all our backs. The O-line did a great job.”
West Point’s defense performed just as well, Chambless said. Wesley Blanchard made a couple of touchdown-saving tackles, Rice seized a pass off a New Hope receiver’s hands and took it 20 yards to the house, and the Green Wave pitched a shutout that was truly a team effort.
“That’s even more special when everybody’s got a piece of it,” Chambless said. “No matter who was on the field, they all cared about it.”
Tackett pointed to his opponent’s all-around performance Friday as what New Hope could soon be — if it matures correctly.
“We’ve got to grow up,” Tackett said. “We’re still a young team. We had 12 seniors out here for senior night tonight, and that’s not a whole lot.”
But with large junior and sophomore classes and a “good-sized” group of ninth graders, Tackett hopes that will change with time. The Trojans have one final game at Grenada to wrap up the regular season.
“It’ll be a good opportunity for those guys to get some reps and grow up a little bit,” he said.
West Point, too, is still growing. The Green Wave’s resilience after an uncharacteristic pair of losses is what Chambless hoped to see, and his players are growing excited for what’s to come — an essential “must-win” game against Center Hill next week; the MHSAA Class 5A playoffs beyond.
Just ask 25 percent of the “four-headed monster.”
“It feels good,” Ivy said. “We’ve just got to keep working. We’re going to make it to the championship.”
West Point 41, New Hope 0
WP 21 14 0 6 — 41
NH 0 0 0 0 — 0
First quarter
WP — Keshawn Henley 23 run (Alex Harper kick), clock 9:15
WP — Keshawn Henley 6 run (Harper kick), clock 6:41
WP — JaKobe Pate 3 run (Harper kick), clock 0:33
Second quarter
WP — Cameron Young 6 run (Harper kick), clock 8:29
WP — Daveon Rice 20 interception return (Harper kick), clock 4:52
Fourth quarter
WP — Chris Ivy 6 run (kick failed), clock 11:47
Team statistics
WP NH
First downs: 16 4
Rushes-yards: 22-226 37-91
Passing yards: 68 0
Comp.-att.-int.: 7-9-1 0-3-1
Penalties-yards: 5-58 6-40
Fumbles-lost: 0-0 1-0
Individual statistics
RUSHING: West Point — Chris Ivy 7-116, Keshawn Henley 4-39, Cameron Young 4-33, Montavious Edwards 2-17, JaKobe Pate 3-15, Jamarquez Petty 1-3, Jaquontis Harris 1-3; New Hope — Ladarius Tate 12-47, Ty Crowell 6-21, Tre’ Doughty 10-9, Immanuel Jones 7-8, Eddie Jefferson 2-6.
PASSING: West Point — Corbin Kelley 7-9, 68; New Hope — Ty Crowell 0-3, 0.
RECEIVING: West Point — Jamarquez Melton 3-54, JaKobe Pate 3-10, Trey Ryland 1-4; New Hope — none.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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