LOYD STAR —  Wesson had a tough night at Loyd Star Monday. The Cobras lost the boys and girls games in an MHSAA Class 1 Region 7 match. Loyd Star’s Girls won 4-1 and the boys team won 6-0. 

Senior Abby Burnette scored two goals for the Lady Hornets. Her first goal gave Loyd Star a 1-0 lead after an excellent run of play 20 minutes into the game. Emma Claire King scored the second goal of the game with seven minutes left in the half. It would prove to technically be the game winning goal. 

“I’m glad to help my team win. I love playing soccer, it is fun,” King said. “Last year Coach Lea asked me if I wanted to play. I said let’s do it and I tried out. Soccer is really fun, it is a challenge. I like challenges.” 

She said she has always cheered or danced before playing soccer. Instead of learning and sticking to a routine like in cheer or dance, she has to think quickly on the fly. Soccer is a situational game and is always changing. 

King said she likes to work and get better. Her hard work paid off with a goal and helping her team create scoring opportunities. In the past year, King said she has improved on everything. 

Wesson’s lone goal in the girls game came from Yadi Silvan to give the Cobras some hope with 19 minutes left. Silvan looked worn out from the hard work in the midfield. 

Loyd Star’s Adisyn Holcomb erased any hope for Wesson with 12 minutes left in the game and Burnette scored Loyd Star’s fourth goal six minutes later. King said she has a good striking partnership with Burnette. 

“Abby is really fast. You have to run fast and keep up with her,” King said. “She likes to cross the ball. We work well together because I like to cross too. We work well together. We shifted in tonight and waited on the through ball to come in the middle because Wesson was expecting the ball on the outside.” 

Wesson’s goalkeeper Mallory Sanders made several key saves to give her team more of a chance.

Loyd Star’s Nathan Mills opened the first half of the boys game with a goal 14 minutes in. He and the rest of the Hornets would test Wesson’s goalkeeper Bryant Robbins for much of the game. 

Robbins played well to keep the score at 1-0 until Loyd Star’s Mason Smith struck with the Hornet’s second goal of the match six minutes before halftime. Loyd Star cranked up the heat on goal. 

Mills scored his second goal of the game to extend the lead to 3-0 with 30 minutes left in the second half. Cooper Creel scored the fourth goal two minutes later. Caden Smith scored his third with 17 minutes left in the game. Kaleb Waldrop would score the sixth goal of the game for Loyd Star with a shot from outside the box. 

Hornet Head Coach Jordan Lea said Mills is splitting his time between basketball and soccer. Mills said this year was the first time he has played soccer in a while. It didn’t show in his play. 

“It is great to do anything I can to help the team win games,” Mills said. “I put basketball first but I love soccer too. I played when I was younger and hadn’t played in a while. It finally opened up to where I could play basketball and soccer at the same time.” 

He said the transition has been smooth and he picked up the game pretty quickly. Basketball and soccer help his coordination on the pitch or court. He has a good understanding of where to be to make plays. The senior is not sure what will be next but does plan to attend Co-Lin Community College. 

“I might have to miss a couple of soccer games for basketball,” Mills said. “So far my senior year has been fun but I know I won’t be able to play next year. I’ll make it last while I still have the time.”