MACON – Late in the game tied at 20-20, West Point needed its defense to get a stop.
Noxubee County attacked their defensive perimeter all night with screen passes and short throws to get the Green Wave off kilter, then attacked the middle of the field with aggressive running, and it proved to be a successful gambit for the Tigers, who had just forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back on their own 20-yard line with 8:59 left to play.
After a 9-yard run by hard-charging running back Laderoun Mosely, Tiger quarterback Jykeim Goodwin charged through the middle of the line for a first down to move the chains – then disaster struck.
A botched handoff from Goodwin to Mosley hit the turf with the game in delicate balance and the Green Wave saw the opportunity and busted though the line and leaped on the ball for the fumble recovery. Their sideline exploded in cheer, and the momentum was back on their side. The ball was thrust into the hands of the Green Wave’s Quintin Thompson three times on their subsequent drive, and the senior zipped around the right side of the line on his last carry and barged into the end zone to break the tie. Kicker Charlie Harrel, who missed a PAT earlier in the game, stepped up and delivered what would be the finishing touches as his kick sailed right between the uprights to lift West Point to a 27-20 victory over Noxubee County.
Penalties and costly turnovers helped turn the tide toward the Green Wave in the second half, who trailed Noxubee 14-7 after a late touchdown throw from Goodwin to Mosely and another throw from Goodwin to Jadien Taylor for two points just before the halftime horn.
But the Tigers, who received the ball first to start the third quarter, fumbled on their opening play and gave way to a 1-yard rushing score by Michael Williams to cut the Tigers’ lead to 14-13 after the missed PAT. Noxubee again pulled ahead 20-13 – this time on a 1-yard run by Mosely – but West Point came out on its ensuing drive and got a 78-yard touchdown run from Jaylen Hall, who raced up the left sideline for the score to tie the game.
“I didn’t think offensively we executed very well in the first half. We got down here and got stopped on fourth-and-1, we fumbled a snap, we had a lot of stuff going against us down here but we overcame it and found a way to win,” West Point head coach Brett Morgan said.
Noxubee head coach Teddy Young said they had West Point on the ropes for half the game, but let its grip on the win slide too far in the second half.
“We came out here and had two turnovers and gave them the momentum,” Young said. “Against a team like that, you can’t help them out. We gave them turnovers early, they caught momentum and we were in a dog fight. They just made one more play than us.”
The Green Wave opened the game with a 14-play smash mouth drive of 72 yards, mixing running and passing plays as they went.
Thompson punched in a 2-yard run for the 7-0 lead, but Noxubee wasn’t worried. The Tigers showcased their potential to be explosive offensively as they picked up chunk yardage with passes to the perimeter on their opening drive and sent a shockwave of excitement through their fans in the stands when Goodwin launched a 23-yard scoring heave to Christon Glenn. But the Tigers missed the extra point attempt and trailed 7-6 early in the first quarter before Noxubee struck again just before halftime.
West Point moves to 3-0 on the season and heads into a bye week before playing at Tupelo on Sept. 26. Noxubee, which lost its 13th straight game to the Green Wave, falls to 2-1 and plays at Shannon on Friday.
Morgan said his team is looking forward to the week off after three straight bruising football games, but he’s glad with how it all went.
“When you get down in games and you have adversity playing good teams, they’re going to make plays too, so just finding a way to overcome the adversity I’m proud of that,” he said. “I’m proud to be 3-0.”
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