After another great weekend of high school football, KDMC has once again selected two players for the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. Both of these young men played fantastic games this past Friday, and we are excited to honor them with this award.

Offensive Player of the Week

This week’s Offensive Player of the Week goes to Brookhaven High School’s senior specialist, Greg Sims. Sims plays defensive back for the Panthers, but is most known for his skills in the return game. He shows great speed and great vision of the field when he returns punts and kickoffs, something the Wingfield High School Falcons learned first hand when they hosted the Panthers this past Friday. BHS won the contest 28-6, thanks largely in part to the consistent play of Sims in the return game. Sims returned four punts for a total of 155 yards, including an 86-yard scamper for a TD.  He averaged 38.7 yards per return, a feat that not many players can brag about. Any coach will tell you, one of the keys to winning every football game is winning the battle of field position. During a time where the Panther offense was struggling to move the ball, Sims helped put them in great field position on more than one occasion. Aside from his fantastic performance in return game, Sims also contributed in other ways. He had 2 rushes for 18 yards and also had 4 tackles on the defensive side of the ball. The road victory pushes Brookhaven’s record to an impressive 4-0 mark as they look to continue their success. The Panthers already have so much talent on both sides of the ball, and if they can continue to get performances like this from Sims in the return game, they will be tough to knock off. BHS host the 3-1 McComb Tigers in a much-anticipated matchup this Friday at 7:30 PM.

 Defensive Player of the Week

This week’s Defensive Player of the Week goes to Enterprise High School’s junior linebacker, Taylor Rutland. While the Yellowjackets are only 1-5 thus far, Rutland has been a leader in every aspect of word. This past weekend they faced the Richton Rebels and lost 34-7. Despite the lopsided defeat, Rutland gave a gritty, deserving effort registering an astounding 15 tackles on the night. Leaders lead by example, and that is exactly what he did on Friday. In games like this, it’s easy to go through the motions and not go all out, but that’s not what you saw out of Rutland. He played full throttle until the clock ran out in the fourth, and win or lose, those are the kind of players a coach wants on their team. Mainly, because that is a quality you cannot teach. You can condition, work out, teach technique… but you cannot teach heart, it’s something you either have or you don’t. The positive to be taken out of this game is that you have a leader out there ready to work and get better. Often times it only takes one game for a team to turn things around and change the outlook of their season. Enterprise will look to do just that this upcoming Friday at 7:30 PM when they face off against the 2-3 Puckett High School Wolves.

Congratulations from KDMC to both players on two exceptional performances. Be sure to check out www.kdmc.org next week to see who will be chosen for this week’s Players of the Week.