Published: October 11, 2008 02:57 am      

Glover, Russell exude toughness in big 'Cats win

MERIDIAN — Meridian High may wear the label of a finesse team offensively, and there's no doubt the Wildcats are undersized on defense.

But following Friday night's 42-28 win over rival Oak Grove in a top-5 showdown in front of 7,500 fans at Ray Stadium, head coach Larry Weems and MHS fans alike were praising the Wildcats' toughness.

In addition to a workman-like, 11-play, 91-yard scoring drive which consisted of no passing plays — and the usual head-hunting hits of guys like safety Khairi Usher — a host of MHS players turned heads with Friday night performances:

• All-state quarterback Tyler Russell was leveled after a 17-yard scamper in the third quarter and was down for a couple of minutes.

But he returned two plays later — and two plays after that, he drilled a beautiful 27-yard touchdown pass to Marcus McQuarley.

• Hamp Glover, one of Meridian's heralded wideouts, saw his roles continue to grow.

In fact, when Russell went down — Glover connected with J.J. Harbin on a 12-yard, first-down completion on his only pass attempt.

Earlier this year, Glover handled the kicking duties when Jett Miller was out; and he had several big tackles while playing defense again Friday.

In fact, Glover — who had to be helped off the field afterward — even lined up at tight end and opened holes for Quardarel Martin on the aforementioned 91-yard drive.

"I am extremely proud of our toughness and some of the plays our guys made tonight," Weems said. "Unfortunately, it didn't look good for Hamp going of the field there.

"What can you say about a kid like that?" Weems said. "That's a great example of the toughness of our guys. They've got a lot of guts ... a lot of guts."