Player of the Week: Sumrall junior QB Landon Hawkins

SUMRALL, Miss. (WDAM) - Sumrall faced a pivotal moment on Friday night.

The Bobcats trailed West Harrison in the fourth quarter on the road before junior quarterback Landon Hawkins led a game-winning drive in the waning minutes, tossing the go-ahead touchdown pass to give Sumrall a 27-21 win.

“There was no panic on the sideline amongst our players or anything,” said Sumrall head coach Shannon White. “And I think the expectation to make big plays and win the game. I think you could just feel it with our players that we were going to win this game somehow.”

“It speaks a lot about our team,” Hawkins said. “Nobody was worried, we knew that if we got the ball back we were going to go score and win the game. It was just big to show that we can run our offense and our brand of football whenever. The clock don’t matter, the pressure don’t matter.”

The numbers have been impressive for Hawkins during Sumrall’s 2-0 start – recording another 300-yard passing night and two touchdowns on Friday.

But the way Hawkins carries himself gives his teammates confidence as well.

“He’s a leader, that’s for sure,” White said. “This is not a hard group to lead, not to take anything away from Landon. We have some fine, outstanding guys. He’s cool in the moment, things you look for in a leader. Not just the verbal things but composed, is in charge.”

Hawkins believes his time on Sumrall’s multi-state champion baseball diamond prepared him for the bright lights of Friday night.

The football team has those some lofty goals and every intention of reaching them.

“Me and coach White, I come up here every in third block and we watch film, go over plays, whatever we need to do,” Hawkins said. “He expects a lot out of me and I know what he wants out of me and I appreciate getting to be the leader of this team. It’s the best place to be when expectations are high. I get the credit but I got the easy part when I have playmakers and blockers like I do. So it’s been really fun so far and we’re looking to keep it rolling.”

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