Wolves Overpower Wildcats

WESSON – The Co-Lin Football team returned to South Division play by hosting Pearl River on Thursday, October 9. The No. 12 Wolves dominated every facet of the game as they beat the Wildcats, 39-7.

The Wolves scored first in the game after the defense forced a three-and-out by the Wildcats on the opening possession of the game. Quarterback Jaylen Pettway (Jacksonville, FL) connected with Kannon Cato (New Hebron) on a six-yard touchdown pass that capped off an 11 play, 85-yard drive on the Wolves opening possession of the game. However, the PAT by Ty Jones (Summit) was missed giving the Wolves a 6-0 lead with 7:37 left to play in the first quarter.

The Wildcats found a response late in the first quarter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to end an eight play, 58-yard drive. The PAT was good giving the Wildcats a 7-6 lead with 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter. However, the Wolves found a quick response on their ensuing possession as Jones nailed a 38-yard field goal attempt to end a six play, 51-yard drive. The Wolves lead stood at 9-7 with 12:50 left to play in the second quarter and the team never relinquished the lead after this point.

The Wolves then added a touchdown on their next possession as Cato caught his second touchdown of the night, this time from quarterback Eli Viniard (Bassfield), from three yards out to cap a 12 play, 45-yard drive. The successful PAT increased the Wolves lead to 16-7 with 6:05 remaining in the first half. The Wolves then added a second touchdown on a second straight possession as Ja'Quan Bentley (Thomaston, GA) scampered in from 26 yards out to end a three play, 55-yard drive. However, a missed PAT gave the Wolves a 22-7 lead with 2:39 left to play. The half then ended with the Wolves defense forcing a 41-yard field goal attempt by the Wildcats that was missed wide left as the horn sounded for halftime with the Wolves taking the 22-7 lead into the locker room.

The Wolves then received the opening kickoff of the second half and marched the ball 74 yards on six plays for a touchdown as Martavious Boswell (Fort Worth, TX) powered the ball into the endzone on a one-yard rush. A successful PAT increased the Wolves lead to 29-7 with 12:03 remaining in the third quarter.

The Wolves increased their lead in the fourth quarter as Jones hit his second field goal of the night, this time from 19 yards out, to cap an eight play, 37-yard drive and make the score, 32-7 9:27 left in the quarter. The final score of the game came as Kendarious Porter (Magee) broke loose on a 67-yard scoring run to end a two play, 64-yard drive. Another successful PAT gave the Wolves a 39-7 lead with 5:57 remaining in the game.

The Wolves defense then forced a punt on the final possession of the game for the Wildcats while the Wolves offense then got two first downs on the ensuing possession and then kneeled the ball to secure the 39-7 victory.

The Wolves offense had 26 first downs on the night while amassing 486 yards of offense, 154 passing and 332 rushing (averaged 8.3 yards per rush on 40 carries). Jaylen Pettway was 11-for-16 for 133 yards with one touchdown while Eli Viniard was 4-for-7 for 21 yards with one touchdown. Pettway also added two carries for two yards.

Martavious Boswell led the rushing attack with 148 yards on 12 carries for a 12.3 yards per rush average with one touchdown while Kendarious Porter had two rushes for 64 yards with one touchdown. Dezmond Ray (Itta Bena) had 59 yards on 11 carries while Ja'Quan Bentley also had 59 yards on eight carries with one touchdown.

Jemarj Bell (Mound Bayou) led the receiving corps with three receptions for 40 yards while Jabraxton Boone (Forest), Kamron Pittman (Clarksdale), and Kannon Cato had two receptions each. Boone had 34 yards, Pittman had 29, while Cato had nine yards with two touchdowns. Trevor Fortenberry (Brookhaven) and Que Tillman (West Point) had one reception wile Darnell O'Quinn (New Orleans, LA) had four receptions for 14 yards.

The Wolves defense held the Wildcats offense to 11 first downs and 188 yards of total offense, 94 passing and 94 rushing. Lee Holmes (Tylertown) and Daniel Watkins (Flowood) led the team with six total tackles each while Tenerrean Jackson (Cleveland), Archie Chambers (New Orleans, LA), and Rakeem Davis (Port Gibson) had five tackles each. Davis led the team in tackles for loss with 2.5 and tied for the team lead in sacks with one. Lonnie Smith (Jackson) shared the team lead in sacks while also adding one tackle for loss and had four total tackles.

Ty Jones had a solid night in the kicking game as he accounted for eight points while going 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-5 on PATs. He also averaged 62.6 yards across eight kickoffs with four going for touchbacks and averaged 37.5 yards across two punts with one downed at the three -yard line.

Co-Lin improves to 5-1 overall, 3-1 in South Division play, and will hit the road next week to face off against Gulf Coast on Thursday, October 16. Kickoff between the No. 12 Wolves and the No. 4 Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m., at A.L. May Memorial Stadium in Perkinston.