Wesson entertains Loyd Star tonight

Published 5:00 am Thursday, October 12, 2000

An important Division 6-2A matchup is scheduled for tonight atStone Stadium when the host Wesson Cobras take on the Loyd StarHornets.

An important Division 6-2A matchup is scheduled for tonight atStone Stadium when the host Wesson Cobras take on the Loyd StarHornets. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The game is being played tonight because Co-Lin is celebratinghomecoming Saturday. The Wolves face the Pearl River Wildcats at 3p.m.

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In local Friday night games, Brookhaven is at South Pike, WestLincoln visits Enterprise for homecoming and Salem is at BogueChitto for homecoming.

Area football action features Lawrence County at Terry, FranklinCounty at Hazlehurst, North Pike at Jefferson County and McComb atCrystal Springs.

Last Friday, Loyd Star hammered Division 6-2A nemesis Hinds AHS39-8 while Wesson fell to Bogue Chitto 20-13.

Loyd Star and Richland are tied for first place in the divisionwith 2-0 records. Both teams are 6-1 overall on the season. LoydStar visits Richland on Friday, October 27.

Tonight’s game is a must win for Wesson. The Cobras, coached byRonald Greer, stand 3-4 overall and 0-1 in division play. Theirdivision loss is to Richland.

“They (Hornets) are well-rounded,” said Greer. “They are soundon defense. (Adam) Speeg is a good looking football player. If youcough it up, they take real advantage of turnovers. It is amazinghow productive they are defensively.

“Offensively, they are just as impressive,” Greer continued.”No. 40 (Chase) Coley is a like a waterbug. Speeg is an all-outfullback. They split time at tailback with No. 44 (Demarcus Barnes)and No. 25 (Derrick Johnson), they have some shakes to them. Andtheir quarterback (Brad Britt) can run and throw well. He is a goodleader for them.”

Greer said his Cobras will have to play better than they have ifthey want to beat the Hornets.

“We have to play better pass defense,” Greer explained. “We haveto tackle; we haven’t very well. We have to quit shooting ourselvesin the foot. Quit turning over the football.”

Loyd Star head coach Anthony Hart knows the Cobras well. Twoyears ago, he was defensive coach at Wesson. Last year Hartreturned to Loyd Star as an assistant to Roe Burns who retired ashead coach last December.

“We try to stress that the most important thing is the divisiongame,” said Hart who is well aware of the rivalry between the twoteams. “I don’t know if the kids feel that way. We want step up thedivision ladder.

“Defensively, they (Cobras) haven’t given up a lot of points,”said Hart. “We are going to have trouble moving the football onthem. They are going to play us hard. They have a good youngfootball team.

“Offensively, Wesson gives you some problems running the optionand other things,” added Hart. “In every ball game they haveplayed, they have had some bad breaks. They are going to be hard tobeat. We know that they will be one of the best coached footballteams we’ll play this year.”

In last year’s tenacious battle at William E. “Sambo” SmithField, Loyd Star beat Wesson 3-0 in overtime and went on to win thedivision championship.

Enterprise hosts the West Lincoln Bears Friday night ina Division 7-1A matchup at Harry Cole Field. This game is also theYellow Jackets homecoming. The pregame ceremonies begin at 7 p.m.followed by the game at 8.

Earlier in the season, the Yellow Jackets handed theyoung Bears a 41-0 beating in a non-division meeting at WestLincoln.

Coach Ricky Deere’s Jackets are coming off a big 42-12win over Edinburg. Powering Enterprise (4-2, 0-1) to the win wasjunior tailback Shermaine Vaughn. Vaughn, the Daily LeaderOffensive Player of the Week, had 243 yards of total offense andscored three touchdowns.

West Lincoln, coached by Don Holston, fell todivision rival Dexter 53-21 last Friday. The Bears are 2-5 on theseason and 0-3 in division play.

In the loss to Dexter, Stacey Fells paced the Bearswith 10 carries for 78 yards.

Bogue Chitto celebrates homecomingFriday night at Troy Smith Field with Division 7-1A rival Salem inan important revenge game for the host Bobcats. Homecomingactivities will be held during halftime.

Last season, Salem knocked off Bogue Chitto 22-9. TheBobcats finished as runners-up in the division.

Bogue Chitto is 3-4 overall and 2-0 leading thedivision. Salem stands 1-5 on the season and 1-0 in divisionplay.

“One thing that keeps us focused is that Salem is theteam that kept us from winning to district last year,” said BogueChitto head coach Carl Cole.

“They (Salem) have a real talented quarterback. He canthrow the ball real well. Their defensive folks run a 50 defenseand they get after people. They can blitz. They have a lot of speedin key positions.”

Salem got hammered 49-14 by Richland lastFriday.

In the win over Wesson, Bogue Chitto quarterback JacobLeggett led the air show, completing 6 of 13 passes for 135 yards,including two touchdown passes. Denard Ferguson led the runninggame with 16 carries for 109 yards.

Linebacker John Wallace was selected The DailyLeader’s Defensive Player of the Week after making 11 tacklesagainst Wesson.

Lawrence County is coming off a 25-14 Division 6-4A lossat the hands of McComb. The defending Class 4A state champ Cougarsare preparing for a division road trip to Terry Fridaynight.

The Cougars, coached by Danny Adams, fell to 1-1 in thedivision and 4-3 on the season.

Terry (3-3, 0-2) had an open date lastweek.

Last season, Lawrence County whipped Terry60-10.

North Pike is at Fayette to face Jefferson County in aDivision 6-3A matchup. The Jaguars (1-4. 0-2), coached by AdamBarron, had an open date last Friday.

Jefferson County (1-6, 0-2) was demolished 42-0 bydivision opponent Franklin County last Friday.

North Pike was whipped 32-6 by Jefferson County in lastseason’s contest.