Colby Sullivan was an exhausted but exhilarated football playerlate last Friday night. Sullivan was credited with 16 tackles inEnterprise’s thrilling 22-14 overtime win over the Stringer RedDevils.

Sullivan’s performance earned him The DAILY LEADER’s DefensivePlayer of the Week award. He accounted for 6 solo tackles and 10assists.

Usually working at defensive end, Sullivan (5-8, 175, jr.) wasmoved to tackle when 2-way starter Antonio Sanders sustained abroken leg in the second quarter.

“Stringer had a big fullback who pounded the line,” saidSullivan. “I made a lot of tackles on No. 11.”

Sullivan said Stringer’s revolting reaction to Sanders beinginjured fired up the Enterprise defense. “They were laughing. Theywere making fun of the situation.

“It ticked a lot of people off,” Sullivan continued. “We gotmad. The energy was awesome, especially in overtime.”

Winning at Stringer was an accomplishment. It was the secondstraight win for the Fighting Yellow Jackets and kept them in theClass 1A state playoff picture. They are 3-2 overall and 3-1 inRegion 4-1A.

“Our whole defense played well,” said Sullivan. “We had a 14-0lead but we started to get tired in the fourth quarter. We lookedlike a new team in overtime. We had four and five people on theball.”

Also working on defense for the Jackets are Vincent Smith, TreyBoyd, Ky Mathis and Brandon Smith in the front line, Drew Waldropand Wayne Nations at inside linebacker and Chris Moak and BronsonRussell at outside linebacker. The secondary includes Blake McKee,Alex Powell and Terrell May.

Sullivan credits the intense summer conditioning program withhelping the Jackets be successful. “I’m not the biggest player soit helps me a lot to lift weights.” He bench presses 250 pounds andsquats with 340.

“Colby is a dedicated, hard-worker,” said Enterprise head coachRoe Burns. “He made 20 workouts this summer.”

Sullivan said the summer program was important to the entireteam. “Before this season, we couldn’t compete with other teams. Wegot tossed around like rag dolls.”

“Now we are stronger,” Sullivan noted. “Practice is a lot offun. Coach Burns gets excited when he sees us hit hard.”

Enterprise has a new defensive coordinator this year in SethLofton, a recent graduate of West Alabama. Lofton likes Sullivan’swork ethic.

“Colby goes hard every play,” said Lofton. “He stayed in thegame all night. He was worn out. He’s one of those guys who workshard inside. He always wants to know what to do and where he’ssupposed to be in every defensive situation.”

After graduating from Enterprise in 2007, Sullivan said he plansto join the Navy. “They’ll help pay for my college. I want to be apetroleum engineer and work on offshore rigs.”

A confirmed sports junkie, Sullivan enjoys watching ESPNSportsCenter and eating his grandmother’s Mexican cornbread. Healso plays golf and is a member of the Enterprise golf team.

Asked about Friday’s big home game against Natchez Cathedral,Sullivan said, “Cathedral runs a lot of spread out of the shotgun(formation). We’ll be ready for them.”