Green Wave take pride in solid rushing attack
For those that follow the West Point Green Wave and know just how the program operates, seeing them in Saturday night’s Class 5A State championship pairing is no surprise.
At this point in the process, the Green Wave getting to the title game is just expected. Just the same, having a dominant rushing attack also comes with the territory and will continue to be that way for as long as Chris Chambless is running things.
From offensive line play to the athletic, power runners, the Green Wave keep churning them out.
“I’m a big line of scrimmage guy and I tell everybody that I talk to that it’s all about the line of scrimmage,” Chambless said. “Our players all have that mindset to win in the trenches and that’s just how we’re going to operate.”
It goes back much further, but the Green Wave have had major talent come through at running back in the last decade. Aeris Williams rushed for 1,519 yards and five touchdowns his junior season along with another 1,261 yards from Delentez Lane and nine scores back in 2012. Williams added a monster year in 2013 with his 2,188 yards and 30 touchdowns before he signed with Mississippi
State.
It was running back by committee in 2014 before the two-headed monster of Marcus Murphy and Chris Calvert came along. Those two combined for over 3,000 yards on the ground as sophomores busting out 16 and 18 touchdowns respectively. Murphy took some of those carries as a junior as Calvert went down with an injury and scored 25 touchdowns on 1,756 yards to earn the first of what would be the four-straight state titles.
With Calvert back to full health in 2017, the Green Wave was untouchable. Murphy had 1,856 yards and 31 scores and Calvert 1,445 and 25 more as they ran through Class 5A and Murphy earned his second-straight Most Valuable Player honors in the game before following in Williams’ footsteps and signing with MSU.
Brandon Harris took the reins the last two seasons with back-to-back years of 1,200 yards and 40 total touchdowns. Dantariys Cannon, Jaylun Eggerson and Jimothy Mays made sure that he wasn’t a one-man show as they all contributed their part at some point the last two years.
This season, it’s junior Cameron Young’s turn to take his place. In 13 games, Young has rushed 219 times for 1,452 yards and 21 touchdowns. Chambless said that he just fits the mold of exactly what they want out of their backs every year.
“He’s a classic West Point running back,” Chambless said of Young. “He’s a bruiser. He can get a big gain when you need it and 3 yards when you need it. He’s going to run it hard and bulldoze and that’s what we want.”
Just like every Green Wave team before this one under Chambless, he’s not a oneman show. West Point has two players that are also closing in on 1,000 yard rushing seasons as Jakobe Pate is up to 857 yards and seven scores on 130 carries and Chris Ivy has 107 carries for 837 yards and five touchdowns.
So if there are any questions why or how the Green Wave is about to take on its fifth-straight 5A State championship game, they need to look no further than the culture it has built. They’ve built consistency in the run game and they have a stacked trophy case to back it up.
It all starts up front and with a running back group that wants the football.
“They love contact,” Chambless said. “I think a lot of it has to do with the way we practice and the way the junior high practices. When you come through here it’s not for the faint of heart when comes to be physical. As long as I’m here, the mindset will be that way. It’s all about the trenches and who can win up front.”