Mississippi Friday Night Football Rewind: No. 10 West Point pulls the upset over No. 4 Tupelo
Perhaps no team in Mississippi has played a tougher non-region schedule than the 10th-ranked West Point Green Wave.
And on a night when most of the teams in the SBLive Mississippi Power 10 rested on their laurels, the Green Wave went on the road and picked up their biggest win to date, knocking off the fourth-ranked Tupelo Golden Wave 21-20 at Renasant Stadium to highlight another big Friday night in the Magnolia State.
MORE: SBLive Mississippi Friday Night Football Scoreboard
The win was the 200th career win for West Point coach Chris Chambless, and it came after an absolute nail-biter.
Jeremiah Harrell found Tyreke Darden on back-to-back big gains to push the opening drive down inside the West Point 10-yard line, and the Golden Wave punched it in three plays later on a one-yard QB keeper by Harrell with 9:24 left in the first quarter.
West Point responded with the most Green Wave drive in the history of Green Wave drives, going 80 yards in 19 plays and tying the game with a two-yard touchdown run from quarterback Quinterrion Tillman-Evans with 9:29 to go in the second quarter.
Sophomore Jaeden Hill was instrumental for the Golden Wave on their next drive, with two big first-down runs and a one-yard scoring dive to put the Golden Wave back on top. A botched snap and hold on point-after left the Tupelo lead at 13-7 with 3:53 left in the first half.
The Tupelo defense got its first stop with 33 seconds left in the first half, and moved down the field on four plays and scoring on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Harrell to Quay Middlebrooks to take a 20-7 lead into the halftime break.
West Point put together another methodical drive to start the second half, and scored on a seven-yard touchdown run by Florida commit Kahnen Daniels.
The Green Wave got a huge break when it recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Tupelo nine-yard line, and Tillman-Evans cashed in the opportunity with a four-yard touchdown run to give West Point the 21-20 lead with 4:32 to go in the third quarter.
As steady as the West Point offense was, it was the defense that got the big stop, forcing a turnover on downs at their own 21-yard line with 4:24 to go. The offense ran out the clock, converting two third-and-short situations to seal the win.
No. 2 Louisville, No. 4 Starkville roll to blowouts
The other two top-five teams in action Friday night rolled to easy wins.
The question for the second-ranked Louisville Wildcats was how they would respond against an undefeated Houston Hilltoppers team after narrowly defeating rival Noxubee County 7-6 last week.
Jykevious Goss provided the answer right away, returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown in a 50-6 win over the Hilltoppers.
The No. 3 Starkville Yellowjackets celebrated homecoming with a 49-6 win over Greenwood.
Trey Petty completed five of his eight passes for 105 yards and three touchdowns, and Jay Stevenson had 113 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Elsewhere in Mississippi
Here's a look at some of the other headlines coming out of Friday night:
- The Velma Jackson Falcons (6-0) exploded for 24 points in the second quarter en route to a 46-0 win over the Ethel Tigers (5-1) in a matchup between previously-unbeaten Region 6-1A teams.
- Senatobia Warriors' quarterback Jay Bonner passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in a key 34-31 win over the New Albany Bulldogs in the Region 2-4A opener for both schools.
- The West Jones Mustangs (6-0) got a solid performance from their defense with seven sacks in a 21-6 win over the previously unbeaten Jackson Prep Patriots.
- Jakobe Williams provided a couple of touchdowns on the ground as the Clinton Arrows (1-5) picked up their first win of the season, beating the Terry Bulldogs 28-21.
- The Kosciusko Whippets (4-1) picked up a key 42-28 win over the Caledonia Cavaliers (3-3) in the Region 3-4A opener for both schools. Sophomore Keith Lay provided the big play, with a scoop-and-score on a Cavalier fumble with five minutes to go to break a 28-28 tie.
