WEST POINT, Ala. – West Point got back in the win column Friday night, taking care of business in one final home game against Carbon Hill, 37-0. Carbon Hill graciously agreed to play in place of Curry, which forfeited this week’s matchup due to COVID-19-related reasons.
Carbon Hill opened the game with an impressive 66-yard drive that ended on a fumble recovered by who else than Kenyan Baker. Baker, who has scored touchdowns in the last two games, finished with the turnover and two sacks.
The big playmaker for the Warrior defense had this to say about the night: “Back in the spring I remember us seniors crying because we thought we lost our senior season. We are so blessed to get to play this season and to get to come home and play on this field one last time.”
After Baker’s fumble recovery the defense turned it on the rest of the way, allowing only 43 more yards in the half. Once the Warrior offense took the field it was like open season. Senior Carter Thornton continued showing what he has all night; he can do whatever you ask him to. This night he took off for 83 yards on the second play of the opening possession. Junior running back Kelton Washington finished it off one play later with an 11-yard touchdown run. Thornton scored the two-point conversion on a 3-yard trick play for an 8-0 lead.
Finishing with 128 yards on 7 carries, Thornton said of his final home game: “Man, we are just so blessed to have this season. It was great to come out with my brothers one more time and get one more W at home. We have our biggest game next week and we are gonna control what we can control to try and go get another win.”
After a quick three-and-out, Kobe Bowers caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage and threw it down to a wide open Jacob Dye for a 53-yard touchdown. Bowers has completed both of his pass attempts this season, both of which have gone for touchdowns. After Luke Hammond recovered a fumble on the kickoff, senior quarterback Will Cochran took it in from 12 yards to push the lead to 23-0 after one quarter.
Carbon Hill took the next series to the red zone but was stuffed on fourth-and-1, making way for a 30-yard touchdown strike to Bowers from Cochran and a 30-0 lead. A three-and-out later and the Warriors went back to the run game, this time finishing off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by Brian Cornelius, his first on the season.
With the Warriors up 37-0 at the break, the teams elected to do 8-minute quarters in the second half, and West Point let its younger guys get some varsity experience.
“I’m proud of our guys and the way they responded to adversity early on in this season,” said West Point Head Coach Don Farley. “We played well tonight; we just have to clean up the penalties. Next week is a new season and if we are gonna survive we’re gonna have to eliminate those kinds of mistakes. Next week we play a great team, and we are gonna get our guys ready and go play some football.”
Finishing the regular season at 4-6, West Point takes its momentum and heads to Alexandria next Friday, when the Warriors hope to upset 5A’s no. 6 team in the state in the first round of the playoffs.
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