Defensive Player of the Week

Cooper Creel, Loyd Star

Defensive Back, Sophomore

In a defensive slugfest that was won 19-12 by visiting Loyd Star (6-1) at Amite County on Friday, sophomore safety Cooper Creel made some huge plays for the Hornet defense.

Creel had a second half interception in a game where every possession mattered. He also made two tackles and broke up one pass for coach Adam Smith. One of those tackles came on a third-and-long when Amite County was trying to convert late and put together another scoring drive. Creel’s stop put them short of the line to reach and on fourth down, the Trojans failed to convert.

Also a cross-country runner, baseball player and forward in soccer, Creel comes from a family of athletes. His father Jamie coached baseball at Vicksburg High and his mother EJ was the first female coach to lead a boys’ basketball team to a state title when she did so at Porter’s Chapel Academy in 2013. EJ Creel played at PCA, where she scored over 3,000 points in her high school career.