CITRONELLE, Ala. — Kobe Weaver did a little bit of everything for Citronelle on Friday night, and the Wildcats needed every bit of it to hold off LeFlore 22-20.
The junior scored two touchdowns, intercepted a pass and averaged 41 yards per punt in the two-point win, a three-phase performance that earned him this week’s Big Friday Kickoff Player of the Week award, sponsored by Rich’s Car Wash.
Offense, Defense and a Punt That Flipped the Field
Weaver’s two touchdowns and his interception would have been enough to stand out in most games. But one of the most important plays he made in the Sept. 18 game came with his foot.
Handling the punting duties for the Wildcats, Weaver dropped a kick that pinned LeFlore inside its own 1-yard line. The punt flipped the field in Citronelle’s favor, and the Wildcats scored on their next possession.
Pinning an opponent that deep changes a game in several ways. An offense backed up against its own goal line has little room to operate, has to worry about giving up a safety, and often ends up punting from its own end zone — which typically hands the other team good field position. In a game ultimately decided by two points, that kind of hidden yardage can make the difference.
Add in his 41-yard punting average, and Weaver’s work on special teams gave Citronelle an edge in the field-position battle on a night when the margin for error was razor thin.
‘You Never Have to Coach Effort With Him’
Citronelle head coach Jason Rowell praised Weaver for his versatility, but he pointed just as much to the work the junior puts in during the week.
“You never have to coach effort with him,” Rowell said. “God’s blessed him tremendously with a lot of talent, but he works and he tries to hone in on his talents and that makes him even better, the work that he puts in.”
For a coach, a player who can contribute on offense, defense and special teams is valuable not only for what he does on the stat sheet but for the flexibility he gives the staff. A player who can score, cover and punt lets a team keep its best athlete on the field in the moments that matter most.
Weaver Points to His Teammates
Weaver was quick to share the credit for his big night.
“It really falls down to my teammates,” Weaver said. “My teammates helped me succeed. They blocked for me. I try my best for them.”
His touchdowns, his interception and his punts all played a part as the Wildcats held on for the 22-20 victory, with the junior’s contributions in all three phases proving crucial.
A Close Win at Home
The victory came at home in Citronelle and was the Wildcats’ third straight home win. It moved Citronelle to 3-1 on the season, while LeFlore fell to 3-2 after pushing the Wildcats to the final whistle.
LeFlore, a Mobile school, came into the game looking to bounce back from a loss the week before and nearly pulled off the road win. In the end, Citronelle did enough to keep the Rattlers from getting over the top, with Weaver’s interception a turnover that mattered.
A Program on the Rise Under Rowell
Weaver’s performance is the latest highlight for a Citronelle program that has been rebuilding under Rowell, a Citronelle graduate who returned to lead his alma mater beginning with the 2023 season.
The turnaround has been steady. The Wildcats went 1-9 in 2022, the year before Rowell arrived. They improved to 6-4 in his first season, then went 9-3 in 2024 — the school’s first nine-win season in more than two decades. That 2024 team also ended a playoff drought, making Citronelle’s first postseason appearance since 2019 and advancing to the second round before falling to Catholic of Montgomery.
Rowell has described his approach as one built on relationships with his players as well as results on the field. The program has seen more players choose to stay at Citronelle rather than transfer, and college recruiting interest in Wildcats players has picked up during his tenure.
Versatile players like Weaver are a big part of what a program in that position needs: athletes who can be counted on in every phase and who, as Rowell put it, never need to be coached on effort.
About Citronelle High School
Citronelle High School is part of the Mobile County Public School System and serves students in grades 9 through 12 in northern Mobile County. The Wildcats wear crimson and gold. The school enrolled 734 students in the 2024–25 school year.
The current campus is relatively new. Ground was broken on Jan. 22, 2015, for a replacement school built on a different site because of soil conditions at the original location, with the new facility scheduled to open in the summer of 2016.
The school has produced several athletes and coaches who went on to the next level, including former NFL quarterback Jeff Kelly, former NFL wide receiver John Kimbrough and Lance Taylor, the head football coach at Western Michigan University.
Sponsor Backs Local Athletes
Rich’s Car Wash sponsors the weekly Player of the Week award. Elizabeth Henderson with Rich’s Car Wash said the award gives the company a way to support local athletes and the schools they represent.
“We love getting behind the people in the schools that make our communities so special, and Player of the Week is a really good way for us to do that,” Henderson said. “And it’s really cool because these athletes are just at the beginning of everything they’re going to accomplish. And it’s really special for us to be able to support them at this stage and celebrate them for what they’re already doing.”
The Big Friday Kickoff Player of the Week honor recognizes a standout high school football performance from across the Gulf Coast each week of the season.
Up Next for the Wildcats
Citronelle was scheduled to face Monroe County at 7 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 25, while LeFlore was set to take on Bryant.
For Weaver, the challenge will be to follow up a night in which he found a way to help his team on nearly every snap — scoring points, taking the ball away and, with one well-placed punt, setting up the Wildcats to put more points on the board.