Wesson travels to Covington County Friday night to tangle with the Seminary Bulldogs.

Cobras coach Jeremy Loy is still smarting from a 44-0 loss last week to Columbia. The Wildcats used two long runs and a short field after a turnover to jump up quickly on Wesson.

“Practice this week was about effort,” said Loy. “Bad things will happen, and when they do, you can’t hang your head and give in.”

There is no time for the Cobras to brood on the loss, as this week they’ll face another strong opponent in the Bulldogs. Seminary is led by 6-foot-4, 285-pound defensive end Nathanial Pickering. Ranked as high as the No. 2 high school senior in the state, Pickering is committed to Mississippi State and chose the Bulldogs over offers from the University of Alabama and Notre Dame, among many other schools.

The mammoth Pickering has 42 tackles and eight sacks thus far in 2018.

Seminary — coached by Brian Rials — has three losses to very good opponents in Collins, Poplarville and Taylorsville. Last week, the Bulldogs made waves in Region 8-3A with a resounding 33-6 beating of West Marion in the division opener for both teams.

West Marion had previously been undefeated, and took the loss in Foxworth on homecoming.

The Bulldogs use a Wing-T formation offensively, and Loy says they execute it perfectly. Seminary averages 280 yards rushing per game.

“They had some really long drives against West Marion,” said Loy. “The type of 20-play drives that eat up clock. We’ll need to be very sound defensively to slow down their ground game.”

Kickoff in Seminary is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Story by Cliff Furr