Wolves Drop Thriller Against Eagles

RAYMOND – The Co-Lin Football team hit the road to open South Division play while facing off against Hinds on Thursday, September 11. The Eagles held off a late comeback attempt by the Wolves to take the game, 31-29.

 The Eagles opened the scoring on the opening possession of the game with a 27-yard touchdown pass to take an early 7-0 lead over the Wolves with 12:10 left in the first quarter. However, the Wolves responded on their ensuing drive as Ty Jones (Summit) connected on a 22-yard field goal that capped off an 11 play, 70-yard scoring drive and cut the lead down to 7-3 with 6:23 remaining in the quarter.

The Wolves defense then forced a turnover on downs after the Eagles failed a fourth down conversion attempt and gave the Wolves the ball on the Hinds 31-yard line. Four plays later, Kendarious Porter (Magee) scored his first touchdown of the season on a nine-yard rush while a successful PAT gave the Wolves a 10-7 lead with 3:19 left to play in the first quarter. However, the Eagles responded by returning the kickoff 65 yards to the Co-Lin 35-yard line and went on nine play, 20-yard drive that was capped off by a 32-yard field goal to tie the game with eight seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Wolves offense then responded by taking the lead in the second quarter as Martavious Boswell (Fort Worth, TX) scampered in from 40 yards out to end a two play, 69-yard scoring drive. The successful PAT gave the Wolves a 17-10 lead with 14:12 left to play in the quarter. The Wolves then looked to add to their lead on their next possession, but Jones pushed a 48-yard field goal attempt wide right to keep the score at 17-10. The next three possessions for the Wolves in the quarter all ended with turnovers as Jaylen Pettway (Jacksonville, FL) and Eli Viniard (Bassfield) threw interceptions while Porter had a fumble sandwiched between them.

After the Viniard interception, Archie Chambers (New Orleans, LA) picked off a pass by the Eagles to give the Wolves the ball on the Wolves 32-yard line. However, the half ended before the Wolves scored as they held the lead 17-10. The Wolves then received the opening kickoff of the second half as Jermarj Bell (Mound Bayou) returned the ball 54 yards to the Eagles 45-yard line. The Wolves then looked to increase their lead as they drove the ball to the one-yard line, but their fourth straight turnover hit as Dezmond Ray (Itta Bena) fumbled the ball while trying to score and the Eagles recovered the ball in the endzone for a touchback.

The Eagles then went on six play, 80-yard drive that led to a touchdown on a 69-yard pass to tie the game at 17-17 with 8:19 left in the third quarter. Bell then returned the kickoff 40 yards for to give the Wolves offense the ball on their own 49-yard line. However, for the fifth straight drive the Wolves offense was stopped by a turnover as a pass by Pettway was picked off by the Eagles on their own 27-yard line and was returned to the Eagles 42-yard line. The Wolves defense stood tall and forced a three-and-out to give the Wolves offense the ball back.

The Wolves offense then had a three-and-out of their own giving the Eagles offense the ball back late in the third quarter on the Wolves 45-yard line. The Eagles then went on a four-play scoring drive capped off by a seven-yard touchdown pass while the PAT was good giving the Eagles a 24-17 lead with 2:02 remaining in the quarter.

The Wolves responded on their next drive as they drove down the field on a seven play, 54-yard scoring drive ended with Boswell's second scoring rush of the night from 16 yards out. However, the Wolves missed the PAT making the score, 24-23, with 14:11 left in the fourth quarter. The Eagles then took advantage of a short field after the Wolves had a bad snap on a punt that resulted in a turnover on downs on their own 14-yard line. The Eagles needed six plays but increased their lead on a four-yard touchdown pass while the PAT increased the lead to 31-23 with 7:57 left to play.

The Wolves continued to stay in the game behind the strength of a strong defensive performance that included a forced fumble on the Eagles 40-yard line, but the Wolves offense could not score on the ensuing drive. However, the Wolves found the endzone late in the game after a ten play, 57-yard scoring drive was capped off by a seven-yard rushing touchdown by Viniard. The Wolves came up short on the two-point conversion attempt making the score, 31-29, with 26 seconds left. The Wolves then attempted an onside kick which was recovered by the Eagles who then kneeled the ball to take the game 31-29.

The Wolves had 24 first downs along with 427 yards of offense, 206 passing and 221 rushing.

Eli Viniard was 10-for-21 for 104 yards with one interception along four rushes with one touchdown while Jaylen Pettway was 7-for-14 for 102 yards with two interceptions and had three carries for one yard.

Martavious Boswell led the rushing attack with 129 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns while Kendarious Porter had six carries for 56 yards with one touchdown and Dezmond Ray had 49 yards with 15 carries. Jermarj Bell led the receiving corps with 115 yards on nine receptions while Darnell O'Quinn (New Orleans, LA) and Trevor Fortenberry (Brookhaven) had two receptions each for 42 and 21 yards respectively.

The Wolves defense held the Eagles offense to 12 first downs along with 245 yards of total offense, 212 passing and 33 rushing. Lonnie Smith (Jackson) led the unit with nine total tackles including one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss while Archie Chambers (New Orleans, LA) had six total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and one interception. Nehemiah McCloud (Havana, FL) had five tackles including one tackle for loss while Jonathan Crain (Brandon), Bryce Hooker (Biloxi), and Daniel Watkins (Flowood) had four tackles each including two tackles for loss for Watkins.

Co-Lin is now 2-1 overall and 0-1 in South Division play and will return to action hosting Jones on Thursday, September 18. Kickoff between the Bobcats and the No.7 Wolves is set for 6:30 p.m., at Stone Stadium in Wesson.