Co-Lin tramples Southwest on the road

SUMMIT, Miss. – Copiah-Lincoln Community College moved to 4-4 on the season and 2-3 in the MACJC South Division Thursday night as the Wolves defeated the Southwest Bears 45-3. The Bears move to 0-8 on the season with loss. Co-Lin is now 5-1 against Southwest over the past six years.

The Bears struck first as Neil McLaurin led Southwest on a 70-yard drive to opening the contest. The drive was finished off with a short 17-yard field goal from Gunar Robinson.

Co-Lin mirrored the Bear's effort on their first possession. Freshman quarterback Woody Barrett marched the Wolves 68 yards with the help of several carries from Deion Dampier. Griffin Sublett tied the game at three all with a field goal of his own from 29 yard line. 

After the Bear's opening drive, the game was all Co-Lin. The Wolves stretched the lead to 10-3 with the first play of the second quarter, a one-yard halfback dive from Rico Owens.

The Wolves held the Bears to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive and forced a punt from Southwest's own 17-yard line. Co-Lin's TJ Gray, a sophomore from Lake, Miss, blocked the punt, which went out of the back of the Bear's end zone. The play resulted in a safety and gave Co-Lin a 12-3 lead with over 13 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Co-Lin took advantage of the possession following the safety with another touchdown. DeMatre Collins got the Wolves' great field position after returning the kick 45 yards into Southwest's territory. Collins also capped off the short drive with a four-yard touchdown reception from Barrett. The score gave Co-Lin a 19-3 lead with 8:37 left in the first half.

Late in the half, Barrett connected with Ryan Drew on what seemed to be a short gain. Drew turned the corner and turned the reception into a 42-yard touchdown, his first of the season. Co-Lin entered the locker room at the half leading the Bears 26-3.

Sublett added three more to Co-Lin's lead on the Wolves first drive of the third quarter with a 21-yard field goal, and Collins poured on even more after a Southwest three-and-out turned into 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. With just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter the Wolves led 36-3.

The Wolves grabbed another two points midway through the quarter after a fantastic Sublett punt pinned the Bears inside their five-yard line. Southwest's Juan Adams rolled left out of the pocket but fumbled the ball after some contact from several Co-Lin defenders. The ball sailed out the Bear's end zone for Co-Lin's second safety of the contest.

Once again Co-Lin took advantage of their possession following the safety. Carlos Ransburgh fought his way in from four yards out give the Wolves a 45-3 lead with 6:24 remaining in the third.

Co-Lin dominated in all facets of the game. The Wolves racked up 427 yards of total offense and held the Bears to just 73. Co-Lin also posted 25 first downs while holding Southwest to just four. The Bears were 0-for-11 on third down conversions.

Barrett led the Wolves in the passing game, as he was 12-for-20 for 149 yards with two touchdowns. Dampier led Co-Lin on the ground with 133 yards on just 12 touches, an average of nearly 11.1 yards per carry. Owens added another 50 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown and Ransburgh posted 56 yards on eight touches with a touchdown.

Drew led the Co-Lin receiving corps with 59 yards and a score on two catches. Collins posted 49 yards and a score on five catches. Jemarcus Weatherall and Jalen Browder had 18 yards on two receptions each.

Sublett was 2-for-2 on field goals and 5-for-5 on extra points. The sophomore also landed both punts inside the Bear's 20-yard line. Collins had 164 yards on kick returns and a touchdown.

Defensively, Lomoni Jones led the Wolves. The sophomore wrapped up nine tackles and had two tackles for loss. The remainder of the tackles were spread throughout several Co-Lin players as 19 different Wolves recorded a tackle in the contest.

The Wolves are back in action next Saturday, October 28 as Pearl River travels to Wesson for homecoming. Kickoff is set for 3:00 with the court presentation beginning at 2:30. Fans can also watch the game live at colinathletics.com or listen live at WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven. For updates throughout the game follow @colinathletics on Twitter.

*All stats are unofficial