WAYNESBORO — Not many folks get a second chance in life.

For Wayne County their second chance came Friday night as the War Eagles stunned the undefeated West Jones Mustangs 38-21 in the second round of the MHSAA 5A football playoffs.

The War Eagles will now host Moss Point in the South State Championship game set for Waynesboro at 7 p.m. next Friday night. Moss Point dropped Picayune 35-20 last night in the other 5A South State contest.

West Jones had ended the War Eagles’ football season the past two years and had won three of the past four meetings in this fierce rivalry, including a 17-7 conquest of the Eagles in October.

“Our players take great pride in protecting our home turf,” Wayne County coach Marcus Boyles said. “We have never lost more than one home game in a year since 2000, and with them beating us over here the first time, we knew we had to protect our record.”

The War Eagles took the opening kickoff and showed that they were going to get the ball to their playmakers on this night. Dewayne Davis took the kickoff back to the WC 45, and three plays later the home team was in the end zone as Andre Rankin ran 2 yards for a score only a minute into the game. Quarterback Demarcus Henderson hit Malik Lofton on the game’s opening play for a 50-yard gain to set up the score.

West Jones tied the score three minutes later when Ben McDonald intercepted a Henderson pass at the War Eagle 15 and returned it 37 yards into WC territory. Mustang quarterback Ben Stevens hit Xavier Hilton on a 21-yard touchdown pass.

Ten seconds showed on the first period clock when the War Eagles took over on their 20. The offense then drove the length of the field in nine plays to score on a Henderson run of 6 yards with 8:44 to play in the half.

West Jones recovered a questionable fumble on the next WC offensive series at the War Eagles’ 6. Stevens hit Trey Winpigler on a 3-yard pass play to tie the score at 14 with 6:44 to play in the second period.

The War Eagle defense, who recorded 10 sacks on the night, took advantage of a bad Mustang snap on a fourth-down play to set up their next score of the first half.

After taking the ball over at the Mustang 45, Rankin hit the heart of the West Jones defense for gains of 11 and 8 yards on back-to-back plays. Henderson then faked to Rankin on the next play and scooted 38 yards for the TD with 1:53 to play in the half giving WC a 21-14 lead.

“The first time we assigned more players to stopping the run,” Boyles said. “This game we assigned more in trying to stop the pass.”

West Jones stormed back down the field and was at the War Eagle 34 when another Mustang fumble stopped another scoring opportunity.

Wayne County took the ball over with 47 seconds to play in the second quarter and four plays later Henderson hit Shaurice Cunningham on a 31-yard pass play as the half ended. Garrett Reynolds hit his fourth of five conversions on the night, giving WC a 28-14 intermission lead.

West Jones came out firing as Stevens hit D.J. Robinson for a 60-yard score on the third play of the second half, cutting the lead to 28-21 with only 10:57 to play in the third period. It was also the Mustangs’ final points of the night.

WC answered with a 10-play 65-yard scoring drive as Rankin ran it from the 2 with 7:25 to play in the third period.

The final points of the night came when Reynolds kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2:26 to play in the game.

Wayne County racked up 23 first downs and allowed WJ only 11. In the second half, West mustered only three first downs. The War Eagles outrushed West (44-239) to (25-26).

Henderson hit 10-of-15 passes for 189 yards, while WJ hit on 12-of-23 for 154 yards. Cunningham caught five passes for 91 yards, while Bowan led WC with 63 yards. Henderson gained 56 yards, Rankin 49 yards, Davis 39 yards, and Dric Jones 32 yards.

“We tried to take advantage of their aggressive style and allow our athletes to make plays,” said WC offensive coordinator Toby Collums.

Jared Powe had nine tackles, three sacks, and a pressure in leading the WC defense. Wayne’s defensive coordinator Marvin Chapman had praise for Powe, Artarius Howard, Jerrell Gandy, Nate Cran, and Alvin Smith in leading the WC defense.

“I thought this was our most complete effort,” Boyles said. “The players believed, and the coaches on both sides of the ball just did an outstanding job of preparing for this game.”