TRINITY, Ala. – After dropping their region opener last week at home against Priceville, the West Point Warriors looked to bounce back on the road against another region opponent, the West Morgan Rebels, on Friday night. This was the first-ever meeting between both teams. After a close first quarter, West Morgan broke the game wide open in the second, scoring five touchdowns to take a 40-0 lead at the half, and they would go on to defeat West Point, 60-12.
West Point got the ball to start out the game, and Titan Thornton picked up 12 yards on his first carry of the game, getting a first down at the 42. A bad snap, followed by a short gain by Thornton, quickly put the Warriors in a third-and-19 situation, but a pass interference penalty on West Morgan made it third-and-4 from the 48. West Point threw an incomplete pass on the next play, and they were forced to punt, but the Warrior defense forced a Rebel punt, and Carter McAfee’s excellent punt return had them in business at the 23. They didn’t do much offensively on their next series, as Max Patterson was tackled 5 yards short on fourth down, giving the ball back to West Morgan.
The Rebels pounded the ball right back at the Warrior defense, getting small chunks of yardage, and later on that drive, a pair of 15-yard runs put them at the 42. A penalty backed them up 5 yards, but that didn’t slow down their rushing attack one bit, as they continued to churn out some tough yards on the ground. A 12-yard run quickly put them at the 7, and two plays later, they finished off the marathon drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. They failed to convert on their two-point conversion, and they took a 6-0 lead with 2:22 remaining in the opening period.
West Point was looking at a third-and-17 from the 21, but Patterson’s arm quickly got them out of that hole, as he found Ayden Shoemaker for 27 yards and a first down at the 48. Three plays later, the Rebel defense picked off a Patterson pass at the 44. An offsides penalty on the Warriors made it second-and-inches from the 47, then West Morgan scampered for a 42-yard gain, getting a first down at the 5. Two plays later, a 1-yard run made it 13-0. The Rebels recovered a Warrior fumble on the first play. A holding penalty quickly put West Morgan behind the sticks, but a Warrior penalty made it first-and-20. After a 4-yard run, West Morgan scored on a 36-yard pass to widen their lead to 20-0.
Another Warrior punt gave the ball back to the Rebels. They struck gold on the first play, as their 49-yard scamper to the house made it 27-0. West Point quickly went backward on their next series, and they were forced to punt once again. West Morgan added a 1-yard passing touchdown on its next series, then after a Warrior punt, both teams recovered back-to-back fumbles. The Rebels added a 39-yard score on the ground to give them a commanding 40-0 lead at the half.
West Morgan quickly found the end zone to start out the second half, as a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 47-0. Max Patterson found Thornton (8 yards) and Skylar Echols (10 yards) for a pair of touchdowns to cut it to 47-12, but a pair of touchdown runs by the Rebels in the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on a 60-12 region win over the Warriors.
Patterson finished 8/22 for 104 yards, a pair of touchdowns and an interception. Thornton added four receptions for 33 yards and a score, while Echols collected a 10-yard touchdown reception in the game for West Point (0-4, 0-2).
The Warriors will be in search for their first win of the season and in region play next week, as they will go to Ardmore.
