O’Bannon High School’s Zion Jessie, the Planters Bank Player of the Week, is one of only eight seniors on this year’s Greenwaves team. It is his job to set an example for the players on his young team. Despite the early set backs this season for O’Bannon, Jessie has always worked hard at getting better.
Last Thursday night in the Greenwaves 35-8 road victory over Coahoma County, Jessie’s hard work and perseverance paid off.
Jessie dashed his way to 150 yards and three touchdowns against the Red Panthers in a victory that meant a lot more than just morale for the Greenwaves.
“We have been a little down this year, but this win gives us such a confidence boost,” Jessie said.
The victory for the Greenwaves (2-5, 1-1 in Region 3-2A)was not just about morale, however; the win means another victory Friday night against visiting Leland (0-2, 1-7) will ensure O’Bannon a spot in the MHSSAA state playoffs.
A trip to the state playoffs was one of the goals for O’Bannon head coach Lynn Lang in his first year as head coach for the Greenwaves. O’Bannon lost 25 seniors off of last year’s squad that won 10 games.
Lang said senior leaders like Jessie have been critical for the Greenwaves in building a strong foundation for future seasons.
“Zion has done a great job for us, and he did a great job in our win over Coachoma County,” Lang said. “He used his vision to see the plays develop and then was able to create a lot of great plays for himself.”
Friday’s home game against Leland will be a reunion of sorts for Lang.
Lang was the athletic director at Leland high school while current Leland head football coach Ricardo Tigler was a member of the coaching staff.
“I know Coach Tigler well, and I know they are going to be ready to play us. This is a great rivalry game.”
Jessie was not the only player to have a fine performance in the win last Thursday.
On the defensive side of the ball senior linebacker Kedarrius Guster finished the game with eight solo tackles and two assisted tackles, and linebacker Zi’Terrean Smith had seven solo tackles and three assisted tackles.
Coach Lang also said he was pleased with the performance of his freshman Thursday.
O’Bannon freshmen who played well Thursday included Kingston Grant, Brandon Lee, Anthony Brooks and Treyvon Rhodes.
