Wesson tops Mize in a donnybrook

“That’s the first time we’ve beaten Mize in, like, a billion years!” said the Tweet that came over the Courier Twitter account (@copiahcourier) late Friday night after the Wesson Cobras had taken the Bulldogs’ best shot and came away with a 34-33 win.  Indeed, the Cobras’ haven’t tasted victory over Mize in at least a decade, the Bulldogs having won the the previous 5 meetings.The Cobras scored first on Antonio Miller’s 7 yard run in the first quarter.  Luis Mellado added the PAT to give Wesson a 7-0 lead.
Mize answered quickly with a 6 yard run and tied the game at 7 apiece.
Wesson began to pull away from the Bulldogs in the second quarter.  Miller added a 70 yard run, and Tyler Christmas, a 48-yarder to extend the lead to 21-7 at the half.  Mellado’s PAT’s were successful both times.
To start the third period, Wesson hit Mize hard on Michael Hauer’s 91 yard kickoff return.  Then, a few plays later, Koy McFarland returned a fumble 37 yards for a score.  Wesson’s lead was extended to 34-7.
Mize, a long-time hot-bed of small school Mississippi football, was not out of it, yet.
The Bulldogs added four more harried scores to pull within 34-33 with 20 seconds remaining.  The final 2-point conversion for the Bulldogs was stopped well short of the goal line by the Cobra defense, securing the Cobras’ victory.
“It was just a great effort for our guys and our coaching staff to beat a very talented and well-coached football team such as Mize,” said head coach Ronald Greer.
Miller led Wesson with 137 yards on 16 rushes.  He scored two touchdowns.  Christmas rushed twice for 72 yards and a score.  Otis Smith had 8 key runs for 61 yards.
The Cobra defense was led by Jay Haynes with nine tackles, followed by Quinten Lindsey with eight.  Four other Cobras–Chris Craft, Smith, Cullen Greer and Ryan Spear–collected seven tackles each.  McFarland had two fumble recoveries.
The task for the Cobras, 3-0, again gets a little taller as the team hosts 3A Seminary this Friday.  “We must continue to work hard on improving each week, especially with this schedule,” Greer added.  Seminary, another team of Bulldogs, is 0-3 after losing 13-12 to North Forrest last Friday.
Kickoff for Friday’s game at Stone Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.