Friday Night Lights — By Tommy Purser

In case you haven’t noticed, I love high school sports and the kids who play them.
I love the sports but I think I love the youngsters more.
This fall we have a special bunch of young ladies playing softball for the high school. And they are a special bunch, both athletically and personally. And Steven Wilcox and his assistant coaches are molding them into exceptional players and exceptional young ladies.
The cross country teams are continuing to blossom under the guiding hand of Will Wood and those who help him. I used to be a runner — spent many an hour pounding the pavement and grew to love the journey, the effort, the pain, the relationships nurtured among the many other people for whom running was a way of life, an object of devotion.
But, while I love to watch those activities of the fall, it is football that really captures my attention.
Friday night’s scrimmage between Jeff Davis and Wilcox County rekindled my love for the game and the athletes who play it.
This year’s edition of our Yellow Jacket team, to me, is a special one. I came home from the game and reflected on the unusual number of noteworthy, exceptional, individual efforts — many worthy of highlight reels. Those efforts were made possible not only by the talents of the individual players, but by the guidance they have received from Coach Lance Helton and his extremely competent and capable coaching staff. The players seemed to almost always be in the right place at the right time. They were confident about what they were doing. They knew what was expected of them. They seemed to understand their role in the grand scheme of the game. It was a testament to good coaching. I can hardly wait for Friday night.