Green Wave fall short of state championship
HATTIESBURG – It's been tough for Class 5A to take down the West Point Green Wave over the course of an amazing seven-year run to state championship games, but the Picayune Maroon Tide have been kryptonite.
After four-straight state championships came to an end three years ago against West Jones, the Green Wave have had two chances to knock off the Maroon Tide the last two seasons. Both attempts left West Point short of the goal with the second loss in as many years coming Friday night in a 31-21 defeat on the campus of Southern Miss.
A vaunted Maroon Tide rushing offense was an issue for the Green Wave a season ago and that unit proved to be too stout again this year. Oregon commitment Dante Dowdell led the charge of a talented backfield that amassed over 300 yards on the ground. When the Green Wave needed stops, they just couldn't get them.
“We didn't get the breaks we needed and the breaks we were trying to get,” West Point head coach Chris Chambless said. “We knew it was going to take a couple of breaks and we couldn't get them. Our guys fought hard and we played hard. We came here expecting to win and it hurt. It's supposed to hurt.”
The Green Wave utilized the passing game early on to get the upper hand as the Maroon Tide stacked the box in preparation for West Point's rushing offense. After giving up a field goal on the opening possession, the Wave hit a 41-yard touchdown pass from Quinterion Tilman-evans to Ahmari Cox.
The two connected on another touchdown on the next possessions as Tillman-evans chunked an 87-yard pass to put the Green Wave on top 14-3 midway through the second quarter.
West Point had bent but didn't break on the defensive side of the ball on the first three possessions, but the Maroon Tide broke through just before the half.
Dowdell's touchdown got the team going and carried things into halftime with West Point clinging to a 14-9 lead.
As the Green Wave's offense struggled, the Maroon Tide strengthened. Dowdell broke off his second touchdown midway through the third quarter on a 22-yard run. Picayune hit an 80-yard pass for a score on the next possession and it was 24-14 in favor of the Tide heading into the fourth.
Kahnen Daniels kept the team in the game right away in the fourth with an 8-yard touchdown run, but again West Point couldn't get a stop. After converting a third and long play, Picayune went for the knockout blow as Dowdell scored his third touchdown on a 33yard breakaway run. Daniels fumbled the ball on the next possession for the Green Wave to fully end their chances.
West Point was outmanned on the defensive side of the ball with the prowess of Dowdell and the rushing attack from the Maroon Tide. Picayune racked up 459 yards of total offense with Dowdell rolling off 28 carries for 190 yards and three scores. Chris Davis had 16 carries for 104 yards.
For West Point, it had 270 yards of total offense with 154 of those coming through the air as Tillman-evans was 3-for-5 for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Cox had all three of those receptions for 142 yards and two scores.
Daniels had 15 carries for 57 yards and a score. For the star running back, it was a tough loss, but he's excited about having another chance next season.
“We fought all the way to the end,” Daniels said. “Obviously, (Picayune) came out on top. We're going to keep on working until we get our goal and get back at it next year. We said we were going to get here and we kept our promise. We just came up short again. We're going to keep grinding towards one goal.”
The season ended with the Green Wave finishing 11-3 with two of those losses coming in the first two games of the season against Louisville and Starkville. The team turned things around and made an unprecedented seventh-straight trip to the big game.
Chambless' team lost for the third-straight year, however, and that creates a drive for the group to start back over and try to get back for an eighth-straight year next season. With several players coming back, the coach believes that his team will rebound.
“It's hard to get here,” Chambless said of the state championship trip. “We've just got to bounce back, try to get here next year and do the best that we can. I told them that I was dang proud of every one of them and I wouldn't want to coach anybody other than this team in the state of Mississippi.”