#HSFT18 Stop No. 57 — West Point Green Wave

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) — West Point was downright dominant in 2017, taking home the 5A gold ball for the second straight year.

The Green Wave finished 15-0, outscoring opponents 686-103.

The senior class that’ll go down as one of the best, including Marcus Murphy,Terence Cherry, Jason Brownlee, the list can go on and on, they’re all a part of the history books.

New stars will shine in the green and white in 2018, and the expectations now rest on their shoulders.

“All eyes are on us,” head coach Chris Chambless said.

“Say we’re having a bad day at practice…I stop it right there and say we need eleven guys. We need eleven guys it means something to. Usually, that hits home with all of them, they know, ‘Hey, I better step up.”

“Just because we won back-to-back, you need to work to get there,” senior offensive lineman Ezekiel Head said, “It’s just been a grind. We’ve been working hard. The first week we came back from the state championship, we were back in the weight room. We can’t get complacent.”

The Green Wave bring back battle-tested guys, but will need new faces to step up in every-down situation.

Jake Chambless will be under-center more, the backfield and wide receiver spots are there for the taking, and the defense will rely on Ryan Melton, Tyler Rupert, and Jaylon Cungious to keep the “mean green” tradition alive.

With the turnover comes the doubters, something West Point has embraced this offseason.

“We love the hate…that’s just our motivation,” Head said.

“We don’t care about that…just know when the Friday Night lights come on, it’s going down,” senior safety Tyler Rupert said.

The pride factor is well deserved, nine state championships in program history has given the green wave the title of the hunted, not the hunters.

“I wouldn’t want to coach anywhere where there’s no community pressure,” Chambless said, “Where there’s nothing that’s going to keep you on your toes as a coach and the players feel the same way. There’s a lot of community pressure on those guys. That’s what drives them, is that pride and tradition at West Point.”

West Point begins its quest for the three-peat at Columbus on August 16th.