BA’s Corey Case and Wesson’s Terrance Haley are this week’s Daily Leader Players of the Week.

Case stuffs the stat line to earn OPOW

Brookhaven Academy junior kicker Corey Case had the type of game a specialist dreams about Friday night in a 53-6 win over Centreville Academy.

Case booted a 43-yard field goal, went 6-for-6 on point-after-kicks, threw a successful two-point conversion pass and caught one pass for 24 yards as a receiver.

For his action-packed night, Case has been named The Daily Leader Offensive Player of the Week.

It’s no exaggeration to say that in the history of Brookhaven Academy versus the Tigers from Centreville — there has never been a matchup in which the Cougars dominated CA like they did Friday night.

Case got the Cougar offense rolling with his long field goal on their first drive of the game.

It was his longest made field goal since a 45-yard kick as a freshman. Case has been the starting kicker for the Cougars since his eighth-grade season.

As a freshman he hit a field goal in the final seconds against Centreville to give BA a 23-22 win.

Having a kicker with range like Case isn’t a luxury that many coaches in this part of the state have.

Brookhaven Academy head coach Ron Rushing says Case pushes himself and takes his craft very seriously.

“He’s an amazing kicker,” said Rushing, “He’s also really tough on himself when it comes to his performance. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached.”

Case was also a defensive standout for BA against Centreville as all eight of his kickoffs went into the endzone for touchbacks.

Rushing has said before the season started that Case would work into the offense more as a receiver during his junior season.

Case has always been athletic and all one has had to do is see him suiting up for the Cougar soccer team to know that. However, when he was younger his talents were too important to risk injury playing another position.

BA was up 16-0 in the first quarter when the left-footed Case got to show off his passing skills.

Junior quarterback Trevor Fortenberry took the snap as a holder and flipped the ball to Case. Running to his left and with a Centreville defender in his face, Case snapped off a pass to receiver Rob Johnson that converted the try.

Case and the Cougars hit the road Friday for their district opener at Cathedral School in Natchez. Last season the two teams met in a wild affair that was decided on the final play when Fortenberry flipped over two Cathedral defenders into the endzone for the win.

Kickoff in Natchez is set for 7 p.m. in Devereux Stadium.

DPOW Haley sets the tone for Cobra defense

You almost feel bad for the offensive linemen that are matched up with Wesson senior defensive end Terrance Haley this season.

A Daily Leader All-Area performer last season, in the words of his coach, this year Haley is  “taking his game up a few notches.”

Haley was a magnet to the ball Friday night in 47-0 drubbing of Franklin County. He made five tackles (two for a loss), had one interception and recovered a fumble. For his efforts Haley has been named The Daily Leader Defensive Player of the Week.

Wesson head coach Jeremy Loy was an assistant at Franklin County previously in his career. Loy was on the staff when the 3A Bulldogs were the bully on the block and state champs.

FC dominated by having a team full of fearless, tough players that would fly around with a certain type of reckless abandon.

That’s exactly what Haley brings to the Cobra defense as Wesson has a group that swarms to the football.

The Wesson defense created six turnovers in the win over Franklin County in the blowout.

“Terrence is an extremely hard worker and has taken his game up a few notches this year,” said Loy. “He is very athletic and can do multiple things for us. It is going to be fun to watch how his year goes and see what happens with his future — he definitely can play and should get a chance on the next level.”

As a receiver Haley has caught four passes for 83 yards and one score this season.

Last season Haley made 58 tackles including 11 for a loss. He also recovered three fumbles. As a receiver he caught eight passes for 88 yards and three scores.

Wesson (2-0) will look for another big night out of Haley Friday when they host Hazlehurst High (0-2) in a matchup of Copiah County teams.

Last year the Wesson season got a shot of momentum when the Cobras beat Hazlehurst 28-21 on the road.

The win was the first in school history for the Cobras against HHS. Hazlehurst led 21-7 before a Cobra comeback that was capped by Haley catching the go-ahead score late in the game.

Kickoff in Stone Stadium between Wesson and Hazlehurst is set for 7 p.m.