Time takes bitter twist in Rockets’ loss
Neshoba Central’s undefeated season came to a bitter end Friday night as the Rockets dropped a 20-14 decision to West Point in the Class 5A North State.
The Rockets were driving. Quarterback Eli Anderson completed a pass to Dedrick McWilliams, giving the Rockets a first down around the Green Wave 30-yard line with around 10 seconds left. According to the rules, the clock was to stop until the chains were moved. The Rockets planned to spike the ball and have one or two plays left to try and score.
Friday night, the clock continued to run. The officials ruled that time expired and left the field when Neshoba Central took the snap to spike the ball.
“If we had one or two shots at it, we could have made a run at it,” Coach Patrick Schoolar said. “We will sit back and take a look at our season and take it for what it was. It was a good season. We went undefeated. We went 10-0 in the regular season, won two playoff games, and now we have one loss. I hated the way it ended, but you can’t take anything away from West Point. They played really well. You have to beat them to advance out of the North.”
The end of the game wasn’t the only play that didn’t go Neshoba Central’s way.
The Rockets took the opening kickoff, picked up a first down and then had to punt four plays later.
West Point took the ball on its 15-yard line. They ran seven plays and moved the ball to its 40-yard line. A holding penalty put West Point back on its 30-yard line. On the next play, quarterback Tillman Evans kept the ball and picked up a good gain before being apparently tackled. He rolled over the defender and came up running to the endzone. Everyone thought the play was over, but the whistle never blew. Though video evidence later showed he was down, and some of the officials were marking the spot, it was ruled he was never down. West Point had a 70-yard TD run. The kick was good, and the Green Wave led 7-0 with 6:19 left in the first quarter.
The Rockets took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Green Wave 7-yards before running into fourth down. The Rockets missed a 25-yard field goal, and West Point took over.
Both teams had drives throughout the remainder of the first half, but there was no scoring. The Rockets were intercepted twice, and the defense held, forcing one punt. The Green Wave had two full possessions. They punted once and ran out of downs on the other series. West Point led 7-0 at the half.
West Point took the second-half kickoff and covered 68 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Kahnan Daniels scored on a 20-yard run. The kick was good, and the Green Wave led 14-0.
The teams exchanged possessions with both defenses holding the line. Neshoba Central took over on their 22-yard line. On first down, Anderson connected with 23-yard pass that put the ball on the Rocket 45-yard line. On the next play, Anderson found Elijah Ruffin on a 55-yard TD pass play. Hunter Bavetta kicked the extra point, and the Rockets trailed 14-7 with 5:44 left in the third quarter. That’s how it stood going into the fourth quarter.
The Rockets tied the game when Ja’Naylon Dupree caught a 15-yard TD pass from Anderson. The score was set up on a 53-yard pass play from Anderson to McWilliams. Bavetta’s kick was good, and the Rockets tied the game at 14-14 with 7:03 left to play.
West Point took the ensuing kickoff on its 22-yard line and put together a 10-play drive that resulted in the winning touchdown. Corbin Hogan scored when he caught a 33-yard pass from Davis. The kick failed, and the Green Wave led 20-14 with 2:22 left.
Rocket fans were hoping for a last-second winning finish as they had enjoyed in the past two playoff games, but it wasn’t to be and the season was over.
Coach Schoolar said Monday that he didn’t have a lot to say after the game.
“I didn’t have many words,” Schoolar said. “I didn’t know what to say. It all happened in the last minute. You kind of felt like something was taken from you — I didn’t want to respond out of character. We have worked on how to respond when things aren’t great. It was a tough way for things to end up.
“We will start working on next year’s team. We are at a point in our program that we don’t have to rebuild. We reload. We won’t have the experience this team has, but we will put good kids on the football field.”
West Point advances to the Class 5A state championship Saturday night at the Southern Mississippi when they take on South State champion Picayune. The game kicks off at 7 p.m.