After a pair of big plays on both sides of the ball in Keith’s 51-6 win over Holy Spirit last Friday, Delmuss Irby is the male athlete of the week.

Irby recorded an interception on defense as a cornerback and ran for a touchdown as a wingback on offense for Keith.

Harry Crum, head football coach of Keith High School, said Irby’s speed and quickness are two of his best attributes.

“He’s quick as a cat, he has exceptional athletic ability,” Crum said. “I coached one of his cousins years ago and it just seems that the gift of speed and quickness runs in their family. He has had several deflections this year and some interceptions this year. Hopefully this will give him some motivation to want to excel even higher.”

One of the things that stands out about Irby is that he’s one of the smallest players of the field, but plays with the toughness that Keith is known for.

“Coach [Martez] Graham is the defensive coordinator, he uses him and the way our defense is structured, he stays on him, he’s hard on him every day and he lets him know the expectations are high — we want you to go full speed every play on the defensive side of the ball,” Crum said, “and he expects everybody on the defensive side of the ball to be able to tackle no matter how big or small you are.”