Wesson’s Will Loy and Enterprise’s Michael Kees are The Daily Leader Players of the Week.

 

Career night earns Wesson win and OPOW for Loy

Wesson only led 7-0 after one quarter Friday night against West Lincoln. The Cobras kept the pedal to the metal after that, though, as they boat-raced out to a 52-0 win over the Bears.

Wesson sophomore quarterback Will Loy finished 19-of-28 passing for a new career-high 346 yards and three scores while also running for one touchdown. For his play Loy has been named The Daily Leader Offensive Player of the Week.

If you’ve seen Wesson play over the last two seasons, then you know what makes them go is Loy getting the ball out quick and accurately to a talented group of skill players.

The leader of that receiving core is senior Antrelle Sims, who finished with eight catches for 137 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Chris Davis hauled in five catches for 93 yards and a TD while freshman Victor Davis had two catches for 23 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Jason Edwards caught three passes for 76 yards and Orlando Smith had one catch for 17 yards.

Last season, Loy finished with 2,495 passing yards 25 touchdowns on the year. So far this season through five games, he’s thrown for 1,191 yards and 15 scores.

The start of the 2020 campaign has been frustrating at times for the Cobras. They only got to play two quarters at Natchez High in the season opener before lightning stopped the game.

That matchup was hastily scheduled after their original opponent, Mize, went into COVID-19 related quarantine.

The Cobras had big first-half leads in back to back games against 3A Hazlehurst and 4A Lawrence County before seeing their opponents mount second-half comebacks for wins.

Friday night, though, the Cobras showed they’re still the team to beat in Region 7-2A with the big win over West Lincoln.

Wesson head coach Jeremy Loy is the play caller for his team along with being Will Loy’s dad. That doesn’t always allow him to enjoy what’s happening as the game is unfolding.

“I can’t just sit back and watch him like his biggest fan because I’m so busy worrying about the whole team,” said Jeremy Loy. “It’s not until late night film that I can really appreciate his play.”

 

Kees leaves it all on the field for EAC

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way — Enterprise senior Michael Kees kind of looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.

Maybe it’s just the chinstrap beard that would make most grown men envious. That’s actually what his coach compared him to Friday night after Enterprise beat region and county rival Loyd Star — a man, not the 16th President.

“Michael Kees played like a man tonight,” said EAC head coach Trey Woodard. “He got banged up there at the end, but he wasn’t staying off the field. He wanted to be back out there to finish the game.”

Kees had gone down in the fourth quarter and limped off the field after spending an extended time flat on his back.

One could forgive Kees if he was just resting, he’d barely been out all night.

A starter on both sides of the line for Enterprise, Kees finished with five tackles, three of which were for a loss, in a 22-8 win. For his efforts he has been named The Daily Leader Defensive Player of the Week.

Each time after Kees burst through the Loyd Star offensive line to take down a quarterback or running back in the backfield he did the same thing — sprinted towards the Enterprise sideline, threw his head back and hollered as loud as he could.

Not everyone at Harry Cole Field believed that the Jackets would beat the Hornets — something they hadn’t done since 2002 — prior to kickoff.

That didn’t matter, though, as Kees believed and that was good enough for his teammates.

It’s almost not fair to pick out one Jacket for an honor without mentioning the rest of the team, as the victory came from a total team effort.

Kees, Chase White, Joshua Richardson and Chris Walker all had big tackles on a drive that set up the go-ahead score. Trevor Grenn then blocked a punt that further helped the home team.

Travis Delaughter and Logan Thames helped plug up the middle defensively all night.

Matthew Burns, Edrick McCray, Lawson Chemin, Brayden Polk and Jordan Stephens all had big moments carrying the ball offensively

The line that led the way was led by White, Kees, Paige, Eli Bayless, Josh Richardson and Tre Baker.

There wasn’t a player on the team that didn’t make a contribution as EAC had just 19 healthy, dressed out players.

So, if one Jacket gets to be picked out for his play in a true team win, let it be the emotional captain of the bunch who played Friday night with a presidential level of passion and effort.