Hallsville may not have won Friday's season opener at Whitehouse, but senior defensive end Coby Bradford won his share of battles on the line of scrimmage.

The Bobcats lost 35-18 after pulling within a field goal entering the fourth quarter. But that did not take away from Bradford's big night.

The 6-1, 205-pounder had a staggering six sacks and nine quarterback pressures to accompany his nine tackles. That performance has earned Bradford the ETSN.fm Dairy Queen Defensive Player of the Week.

"The only way we could really control their passing game was get pressure on the quarterback," said Hallsville coach David Plunk. "The difference in our two teams was special teams.They beat us in the special teams phase of the game and it ended up costing us the game."

Bradford is one of Hallsville's half dozen returning defensive starters. As a junior, Bradford had a solid season with 68 tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble.

Friday night, he tripled his 2011 sack total in one 48 minutes.

"His overall speed," Plunk said is Bradford's best attribute. "He's tough on anyone to block 1-on-1. He's going to get some pressure on some passers. That's what he does."

Bradford and the Bobcats will try for their first win Friday night in a home opener agains Van, which beat Pine Tree 41-28 this past Friday. The Vandals had a 200-yard rusher in their season opener -- sophomore Matt Savis -- but senior quarterback Garrett Smallwood threw for 3,000 yards in 2011, so Bradford should have plenty of chances to chase another QB.

 

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