Photos by Chris Todd
Story by Robert Wilson

Thanks to a fourth-quarter rally, West Point’s quest for a five-peat state championship is still alive.

Cameron Young scored on a 3-yard run with 48 seconds to play to complete a fourth-quarter comeback for a 29-22 victory over Ridgeland Friday night in the Class 5A semifinals at Ridgeland.

West Point, the four-time defending 5A state champions, improved to 11-3 and meets West Jones, 12-2 and a 18-16 winner of Pascagoula in the other semifinal, Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson. Ridgeland finished 10-3 and was denied its first trip to the state championship.

Ridgeland senior quarterback Zy McDonald completed a touchdown pass to running back Donovan Ball and McDonald completed a 2-point conversion pass to sophomore receiver Ayden Williams to give Ridgeland a 22-14 lead with 5:03 to play in the third quarter. But Ridgeland couldn’t find the end zone any more.

West Point’s Jakobe Pate scored on a 6-yard run and West Point added the 2-point conversion for a 22-22 tie with 9:46 to play. Then Young gave West Point the lead in the final minute. McDonald guided Ridgeland down to the West Point 35, but his pass in the end zone fell incomplete on the game’s final play.

McDonald ran for a 4-yard TD and completed a 18-yard TD pass to Ja’Braxton Boone and Young scored two TDs for a 14-14 ti