HATTIESBURG — West Point added another gold football to its trophy case, and its coach brought another championship ring to the Morgan family.

Shamane Clark scored three rushing touchdowns, and West Point held off a second-half comeback bid to beat Gautier 28-21 in the MHSAA Class 5A championship game Friday.

West Point led 28-7 after Clark’s 1-yard touchdown run with 4:04 left in the third quarter. Gautier’s Trey Irving threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Kainen Rush on its next possession, and Kasin Thomas scored on a 5-yard run to cut it to 28-21 with 19 seconds left in the game.

West Point (11-3) recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to claim its MHSAA record 13th state championship.

Gautier (12-2) was making its first-ever state championship game appearance.

Vicksburg native and Warren Central alum Brett Morgan won a state title in his first season as West Point’s head coach. He had been on the Green Wave’s staff since 2009 and was part of seven previous state championship teams.

Morgan is the youngest son of Warren Central legend Robert Morgan. His older brothers Josh and Rob are currently the head coach and offensive coordinator, respectively, at Warren Central.

Class 1A
Baldwyn 21, Simmons 20
Baldwyn (14-1) scored three touchdowns in a six-minute span of the third quarter, and then hung on to beat Simmons (13-1) in the MHSAA Class 1A football championship game on Friday.

The game was a defensive slugfest in which the two teams combined for only 273 total yards. Simmons committed four turnovers.

Fittingly, what turned out to be the winning score came on a 26-yard interception return by Ashton Grice with 2:53 left in the third quarter.

Grice’s touchdown followed 1-yard runs by Terrell Robinson and Dy’Lan Johnson that turned a 12-0 halftime deficit into a 21-12 lead for Baldwyn.

Simmons’ Prentavis Madison returned the ensuing kickoff for a 78-yard touchdown, but neither team scored again.

Baldwyn won its second state championship, and first since 2008.

Simmons won three consecutive state titles from 2015-17, but has not gotten another since then.

MHSAA championship game schedule
All games at Southern Miss
Thursday, Dec. 5
Class 3A – Choctaw County 34, Noxubee County 27
Class 7A – Tupelo 28, Brandon 16

Friday, Dec. 6
Class 1A – Baldwyn 21, Simmons 20
Class 5A – West Point 28, Gautier 21

Saturday, Dec. 7
Class 2A – Charleston (12-2) vs. Heidelberg (13-1), Noon
Class 4A – Louisville (13-1) vs. Poplarville (12-2), 3:30 p.m.
Class 6A – Grenada (13-1) vs. Hattiesburg (13-0), 7 p.m.