WESSON – The West Lauderdale Knights captured a 27-0 triumph over the winless Wesson Cobras Friday night at H.L. Stone Stadium.

The Cobras battled through a rough night as they could not overcome their struggles with penalties, fumbles and bad calls as they tried to defend on their home turf.

“I thought we played well in some areas but in others we weren’t so strong” said leading tackler, senior Javoris Smith. “They simply made more plays and we didn’t make enough. The small things hurt us at times, and that’s something we have to work on.

“I do believe that we will get better as a team, and eliminate those small errors. We just have to go back in on Monday, have a strong week of practice, and be ready to play a better game this week.”

The Knights made the first touchdown on their initial possession of the ball when quarterback Tyler Turnage ran the ball 37 yards to the end zone. Place kicker Slade Thompson made the extra point, bringing the score to 7-0 Knights with 11:29 on the clock.

The first quarter ended with the Cobras getting within scoring distance, but they then fumbled the ball. They redeemed themselves by recovering a fumble by the Knights on the next play.

The Cobras took charge at the beginning of the second quarter and moved the ball down the field but fumbled the ball again close to the end zone.

Senior Javoris Smith and the Cobra defense rallied and held the Knights in their red zone and took possession of the ball at the 20-yard line. Wesson quarterback Tyler Christmas went for a pass play, but it was incomplete to Farrod Green.

The Cobras decided to kick a field goal but it was no good. The Knights dominated the rest of the second quarter with senior Johnathan Williams and junior Noah Nix scoring touchdowns and kicker Thompson acing his extra point attempts to bring the score at the end of the first half to 21-0.

The Cobras attempted to score again in the third quarter when junior Dartavious Dixon, leading receiver of the night, ran the field and was pushed out of bounds within the five-yard line. The Cobras went for the pass play again with an incomplete pass to junior Farrod Green in the end zone due to some obvious interference, but no call was made by the referee.

The Knights scored again in the fourth quarter with junior Cetin Ozen making the touchdown. The extra point was no good, bringing the final score of the game to 27-0.

“I am very proud of the effort that many of our boys are giving,” said Cobra coach Ronald Greer. “We really hurt ourselves on several scoring opportunities with turnovers and penalties. We are still giving up several big plays on defense.

“We had several young players to step in and play well Friday night. We must do a better job as a staff on motivating and preparing our team for the challenges they will face each Friday night. We regroup and prepare the guys for a very good Seminary team this week.”

On offense, Christmas led the Cobras, completing 10 of 26 passes for 135 yards and one interception. He also directed Wesson’s ground attack with 13 rushing for 29 yards. Dartavious Dixon led all receivers with five catches for 43 yards.

Defensively, Javoris Smith was the leading tackler with eight stops. Blake Burns provided seven stops. Devin Merrill had six.

The Wesson Cobras’ Homecoming game against the Seminary Bulldogs will be this Friday at 7 p.m. at H.L. Stone Stadium.