Wolves Dominate Bears

SUMMIT – The Co-Lin Football team continued South Division play on the road against Southwest on Thursday, September 25. The No. 11 Wolves controlled every aspect of the game on their way to a dominant 38-7 win over the Bears.

It was a defensive battle in the early part of the first quarter as both defenses stalled out the opposing offenses until the Wolves found the endzone first late in the quarter. Eli Viniard (Bassfield) connected with Jabraxton Boone (Forest) on a 43-yard catch and run for a touchdown to end a seven play, 73-yard drive. The successful PAT by Ty Jones (Summit) gave the Wolves a 7-0 lead with 1:54 left to play.

The next score for the Wolves came on their next possession after Jonathan Crain (Brandon) picked off a pass on the Bears 37-yard line giving the Wolves offense a short field to work with. After six plays, Jones lined up for a 34-yard field goal attempt and missed wide left, but the drive was continued as the Bears were called for a roughing the kicker penalty. Three plays later, Martavious Boswell scored his first touchdown of the night with a one-yard rush to end the nine play, 37-yard drive while Jones nailed the PAT to increase the lead to 14-0 with 12:22 remaining in the second quarter.

Late in the second quarter, the Wolves defense forced their second turnover of the game as Trenton Rocker (Booneville) stripped the ball from the Bears quarterback on a sack while Lance Taylor (Memphis, TN) recovered the ball on the Wolves 44-yard line and returned the ball to the Bears 11-yard line; however, a facemask penalty on the return brought the ball back to the Bears 26 and once again gave the Wolves offense a short field to work with. The Wolves offense capitalized on the field position as Jones nailed a 29-yard field to cap off a four play, 13-yard drive and increase the lead to 17-0 as the horn sounded for halftime.

The Bears then received the second half kickoff and took over seven minutes off the clock on the opening possession as they scored on the drive and cut the Wolves lead down to 17-7 with 7:49 left in the third quarter. The Bears then looked to cut into the lead again after they forced a fumble and recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff; however, the drive led to no points after a 50-yard field goal was missed wide left giving the Wolves the ball on their own 32-yard line. The Wolves used Boswell as a one-man wrecking crew as he rushed three times for 68 yards including a 41-yard scoring run while the PAT was good increasing the lead to 24-7 with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter.

The next two possessions for the Wolves both ended as the Bears picked off passes by Viniard; however, the Wolves defense stepped up and stalled out both drives to maintain the lead. The next score for the Wolves came early in the fourth as Boswell scored for the third time of the game, this time from 73 yards out, to cap off a two play, 82-yard drive. The successful PAT gave the Wolves a 31-7 lead with 11:34 left to play in the fourth quarter.

The final score of the game came late in the fourth quarter as Viniard caught the edge against the Bears defense on a read option play and scampered in from 57 yards out on a one play drive. Another successful PAT gave the Wolves a 38-7 lead with 4:35 remaining in the game.

The Wolves defense then forced a three-and-out by the Bears while the Wolves offense was able to run out the clock after Que Tillman (West Point) gained 21 yards on two rushes to gain a first down on the final possession of the game.

The Wolves offense had 19 first downs and 489 yards of total offense, 104 passing and 385 rushing.

Eli Viniard was 8-for-18 through the air for 104 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions paired with six rushes for 78 yards with one touchdown. Martavious Boswell had a career night with a career-high 187 yards on 14 carries with a career-high three touchdowns while Dezmond Ray (Itta Bena) had eight carries for 46 yards and Ja'Quan Bentley (Thomaston, GA) added 44 yards on six carries.

Darnell O'Quinn (New Orleans, LA) led the receiving corps with four receptions for 48 yards while Jabraxton Boone, Trevor Fortenberry (Brookhaven), Dezmond Ray, Jermarj Bell (Mound Bayou) had one reception each.

The Wolves defense held the Bears to 11 first downs and 103 yards of total offense, 42 passing and 61 rushing.

Lee Holmes (Tylertown) and Trenton Rocker led the team in total tackles with six each while Rocker added two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and one forced fumble to his night. Doug Nelson and Sentario Willis, both of Hazlehurst, along with Malachi Atterberry (Meridian) had five tackles each. Willis added one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss to his night. Tashawn Johnson (Byram) also had one sack during the game.

Ty Jones had another solid night in the kicking game accounting for eight points with five PATs and one field goal while averaging 62.7 yards across six kickoffs with one touchback. He also averaged 44.8 yards across four punts with two going inside the 20-yard line and one going for a touchback.

Co-Lin improves to 4-1 overall, 2-1 in South Division play, and will return to action hosting Pearl River on Thursday, October 9. Kickoff between the Wildcats and the No. 11 Wolves is set for 6:30 p.m., at Stone Stadium in Wesson.