2015 High School Football Tour – Stop #58: West Point

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WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) — If Saturday’s jamboree comeback win over Kosciusko was any indication, the West Point football team is in for quite a ride these next few years. A dominant sophomore class is moving up to join a stout group of juniors and seniors, which has given new life to the Green Wave football program.

“We have a lot of youth,” head coach Chris Chambless said. “It’s the young group that’s making it more exciting for the old guys. Older guys want to lead and it’s put new life into them coming out every day and being excited to practice and have fun. It’s fun to coach a group like that.”

“We have a lot of young athletes that are hungry and they want it,” senior lineman Tony Rush said. “They want to be on the field and accomplish the same goal as the seniors do which is the 5A State Championship.”

That state title is being talked about once again at West Point and for good reason. The Wave is going back to the basics on offense and defense and there’s certainly reason to believe they are in the hunt to win it all again.

“Around here, that’s our expectation every year is to do the best we can to get that point to give us a chance to play for the State Championship,” Chambless said. “We have to get better every day, every practice and every game and try and peak at the end.”

By West Point standards, the last two seasons have been below average. 16 wins in two years won’t be enough for head coach Chris Chambless and the Greenies, as they aim to return back to former glory beginning this season.

“The biggest thing is continuing the West Point name they’ve always had ever since way back in the day, before I came up,” Rush said. “That’s what we’re trying to get back to: that hard-hitting defense, the non-stop running offense. We’re just trying to get back to it.”

“We love it,” senior Jeffrey Drake said. “This is our year and we’re going to go hard. I always told the team that we will always have fight and we got to have faith. At the end, we will finish strong.”

The Green Wave will be off this Friday, with their first game of the 2015 season coming Aug. 28 at Louisville.