The Wesson Cobras fought until the final whistle Friday night, but couldn’t get control of Crystal Springs as the Tigers took home a tough 19-12 win in the KDMC Kickoff Classic at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

“Crystal Springs has a good football team,” said Wesson head man Jeremy Loy. “They didn’t make many mistakes tonight and we had some penalties that really cost us. In a game like this where you’ve got to fight for every inch, you can’t have a false start or an offsides go against you.”

Crystal Springs went up 7-0 early but the Cobras responded with an 8-yard touchdown run by quarterback Antrelle Sims. The score was set up by a Terrance Haley fumble recovery. The score remained 7-6 until midway through the second quarter when CS got a huge play to grow their lead.

Crystal Springs defensive back Nictoriunte Buie returned an interception 95-yards for a score to put the Tigers up 13-6 which ended up being the halftime score.

The Tigers would then use their rushing attack to move down the field on the first drive of the second half. Johnnie Daniels scored from two yards out to put CS up 19-6.

Wesson wasn’t done though as they responded on their next possession. Sims hit senior Damien Smith on a short screen and the speedy Smith avoided tackles while racing in for a 60-yard score.

The Cobra defense was strong from there on out and had several stops against the Tiger offense, but Wesson could never close the seven-point gap.

“Our line is young, and I thought as the game went on they started to grow up,” said Loy. “We told them before the game this was big-boy football. Crystal Springs is a 3A playoff team with a lot of size and strength. Hopefully our young guys saw what it takes to compete at the varsity level.”

Wesson travel to Sumrall next week. Sumrall beat 5A South Jones 39-21 on Friday. Crystal Springs will host Florence on Friday.