WEST POINT — The clock nearly struck midnight for the Green Wave in the fourth quarter Friday night after a potentially backbreaking interception gave visiting Holmes County Central the ball back with a four-point lead and less than two and a half minutes on the clock.

But the West Point defense, which at no point looked capable of making a stop early in the game, dug in and forced a three-and-out. With excellent field position, the Green Wave took the lead on a 12-yard touchdown run by Quintin Thompson with 33 seconds left and advanced to the MHSAA Class 5A semifinals with a 31-28 win over the Jaguars.

“It’s really unbelievable,” West Point head coach Brett Morgan said. “The ESPN predictor probably would have been about 90 percent right there (for) us losing that ball game. We kept fighting, we used very good clock management, the defense came up with a huge stop, and the offense got on the field and executed the two-minute drill.”

The two-minute offense looks different for the Green Wave (9-3) than most teams because they rarely throw the ball. West Point uses heavy personnel packages, often without any receivers out wide. But even when defenses know what’s coming, they have trouble stopping it.

It was the Green Wave, though, who had trouble stopping Holmes County Central (8-4) for most of the first half. Jaguars quarterback Garrison Davis played pitch and catch with his receivers and led his offense to touchdowns on their first three possessions to build a 21-7 lead. The visitors opened the scoring on a quick pass from Davis to Julius Mathis, who broke a tackle and broke free down the left sideline for a 48-yard touchdown.

“We were concerned about it,” Morgan said. “They’ve got three or four teams in their leagues that can just spin (the ball) and throw it well and run and catch it well on the perimeter. We prepped as (well) as we could, but it took us a few drives to get used to that speed.”

West Point went three and out on its first drive, but got on the board late in the first quarter after taking advantage of two Jaguars penalties. Shamane Clark scored from 13 yards out to give the Green Wave their only points of the first half.

The hosts had a chance to cut into a two-touchdown deficit at the end of the half after the defense finally made a stop, but West Point was unable to punch the ball in just shy of the goal line on fourth down on the final play of the second quarter. Cam Randle was injured in that quarter and did not return, leaving Clark and Thompson — who recently returned from a high-ankle sprain — to shoulder the bulk of the touches.

“It was good to have (Thompson) back,” Morgan said. “I can’t say enough about them just gutting it out and finding a way to get it done.”

The Green Wave used 12 straight running plays to start the second half, making it a 21-14 game on Clark’s second touchdown of the night.

Following a three-and-out, West Point tied the game on a 14-play drive — again, all on the ground — ending on a 6-yard run by Thompson.

The West Point defense forced a turnover on downs, and the Green Wave then took the lead for the first time on a short field goal from Jack Carter Taylor.

But Holmes County Central was not finished. On fourth down at the Jaguars’ own 39-yard line, Davis moved outside the pocket and hit Gavin Howard for a 57-yard gain, and three plays later he connected with Jaiden Tucker for a touchdown that gave the visitors a 28-24 lead.

West Point was poised to respond when the Green Wave tried to catch Holmes County Central off guard with a pass, but Clark overthrew his target and Clyzavion Landfair made the easy interception. The defending state champions never panicked, though, and Thompson found the edge for the eventual game-winning score.

“I just knew I had to make a play,” Thompson said. “(The coaches) were just telling us to keep our heads up. The game isn’t over until triple zeros in the fourth quarter, so we kept our heads up, kept playing hard and came out with a win.”

The Jaguars never got close on their last-gasp drive, and the comeback was complete. West Point will travel to Cleveland Central next week with a spot in the state title game on the line.

“Both teams fought tooth and nail, all they had for four quarters. We just came up three points better,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our team (and) our coaches. We never quit.”

West Point 31, Holmes County Central 28

Holmes County Central 13 8 0 7 — 28
West Point 7 0 7 17 — 31

First quarter
HCC — Julius Mathis 48 pass from Garrison Davis (Keannan Palmer kick), clock 9:18
HCC — Jaiden Tucker 2 pass from Davis (kick blocked), clock 2:55
WP — Shamane Clark 13 run (Jack Carter Taylor kick), clock 0:12

Second quarter
HCC — Rashad Campbell 8 run (Davis run), clock 9:33

Third quarter
WP — Clark 1 run (Taylor kick), clock 6:47

Fourth quarter
WP — Quintin Thompson 6 run (Taylor kick), clock 10:29
WP — Taylor 21 field goal, clock 7:34
HCC — Tucker 4 pass from Davis (Palmer kick), clock 5:25
WP — Thompson 12 run (Taylor kick), clock 0:33