OXFORD — West Point football coach Chris Chambless says his team has gone by one motto the whole year: Refuse to lose and be a pro.

In Thursday's MHSAA 5A state final, his team was all that and more.

West Point (11-3) defeated Laurel 35-7 on a wet and cold night at Ole Miss' Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. This is the Green Wave's fifth state title in the past nine years and 12th overall, most in the MHSAA.

"It means the world," Chambless said. "Especially after the last three years of getting here and not getting over the hump."

After losing in three consecutive state championship games, Chambless said, it was the veterans, with their leadership and pure talent, that got them past that.

"It's just a great group of young men like all of them, you know," he said. "This senior class showed great leadership."

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Losing a state title can be hard on any team, but for senior defensive lineman Zay Lowery, this win signifies West Point's resilience.

"Motivation, just motivation," Lowery said. "Coming into the season and in the offseason, we just kept working and trying to get better every day."

Laurel (8-7) scored on its opening drive, a 31-yard rushing touchdown from Kobe Pierce. That was all the Golden Tornadoes could get. West Point shut them down the rest of the game.

"They really played well tonight, and they played a really big factor in the win," running back Kahnen Daniels said.

Kahnen Daniels' key performance

It was only fitting that the state final game MVP was awarded to Daniels.

Daniels, who had led West Point on offense all season, rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns, including the Green Wave's first and last.

"It feels good, man," he said. "We came out victorious and we kept plugging to the end . . . I give all the praise and glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I feel like He blessed me with this award and blessed my team to win a state championship."

Daniels said the past three state title game losses helped fuel this season in more ways than he can count.

"It definitely gave us motivation," he said. "It gave us that fire that we needed going into the season. We had a couple of losses during the year, but we just kept on plugging all the way to the end."

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Daniels' performance was noticed by many, but especially his coach, in his last game with the senior running back.

"I'm going to miss him, I know that," Chambless said, smiling. "He's just a great player, everybody sees that. But not everybody can see what a great person he is. And that's what I'm most proud of him for."

Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion-Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: West Point defeats Laurel for MHSAA 5A state football title