WESSON — After two long bus rides for road games, theCopiah-Lincoln Community College Wolfpack finally makes their homedebut Thursday night in Stone Stadium. Archrival Southwest providesthe competition for the first South Division game of the season.Kickoff is 7 p.m.

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Southwest (1-1) is coming off a 12-7 win over East Mississippi.Co-Lin (0-2) is looking for its first win of the season afterlosing 20-10 to Itawamba last week.

Co-Lin head coach Glenn Davis said he and his staff have beenreviewing films of the Bears. “Southwest is very fast. They are notreal big on defense but they are really quick. They have reallygood skill guys in the secondary and their receivers.”

Davis said, “No. 2 (Robert Jordan) is very good. He’s a bigscoring threat.”

Jordan (5-11, 160, fr.), is from Miami. In Southwest’s seasonopener, Jordan returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown in a 24-21home field loss to Itawamba.

Walter Mason (5-10, 165, soph.) of Amite, La. works atquarterback for Southwest. “He’s similar to the quarterback (FredJones) they had last year.”

Another standout for the Bears is quarterback/running back, E.J.Legree (6-0, 175, fr.) from Beaufort, S.C. Davis said, “He’s a verygood athlete.”

In the trenches, Davis said, “The offensive linemen are thebest-sized group they’ve had in several years. They had a bigchangeover in assistant coaches so they are doing thingsdifferently.

“They play hard on defense and run to the football.”

Co-Lin made some major improvements since losing its seasonopener 31-0 at Northwest in Senatobia. The Wolfpack played well inspurts against Itawamba but the Wolves were unable to stopsophomore quarterback Tyson Lee who completed 23 of 36 passes for318 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“We have to quit giving up big passing plays,” said Davis. “Wehave to play pretty good to win.”

Davis said nagging injuries have hampered his team. “We arestill banged up. We haven’t had them all there at the sametime.”

They played harder and got better last week. Hope to make somebig plays on offense and defense.”

Kentrell Cleveland, a sophomore from Hazlehurst, has beenCo-Lin’s main runner. “Kentrell’s been steady,” said Davis. “He’s agood leader for us.”

Cleveland rushed 24 times for 118 yards against Itawamba.

Davis said his team should be rested and ready to play againstthe Bears. “We don’t have a four or five hour drive to contendwith.”

Working with a rebuilt offense, the Co-Lin coaching staff hasworked overtime to forge a new unit. In two games, Co-Lin has beenoutscored 51-10.

Against Itawamba, the Wolves got a 26-yard field goal fromfreshman Will Thibodeaux and a 23-yard touchdown pass fromquarterback Micah Davis to tight end Jonathan Massey.

Davis completed 17 of 36 passes for 153 yards.

Southwest Ready

Second-year head coach Charles Anthony predicts a heatedcontest when his Bears challenge Co-Lin tomorrow night. The rivalryattracts a lot of interest, despite the records.

“I expect Co-Lin to be at their best,” said Anthony.”You can throw the records out and all that kind ofstuff.”

Southwest lost a close decision to Itawamba in itsseason opener and squeaked past East Mississippi Community Collegelast week.

Looking at the EMCC game, Anthony said, “It was ahard-fought win. We were able to get six turnovers and block apunt. It was hard-earned.”

Offensively, Anthony said, “Jamall Jackson has playedwell. He’s our leading receiver.”

Legree is a multi-purpose player for the Bears. He canplay quarterback, receiver and running back.,

Mason has been starting at quarterback for Southwest.Mason took all the reps in the spring. He replaced Jones, a 2-yearstarter from Magnolia (South Pike).

Anthony complimented his team’s performance on defense.”We have played hard on defense. We have fought and scratched.We’ve had three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Thatlate interception set up our only touchdown,” versusEMCC.

There are some area players on the Southwest squad.Montral Smith, a sophomore wide receiver from Brookhaven, is seeingaction for the Bears.

Andrew Williams from Franklin County is a backup noseguard. Freshman quarterback Ryan McCall and free safety MurphyPeyton are from Lawrence County.

This is Southwest’s first road game. Two new coaches onstaff, Mike Volarvich is the offensive coordinator. Jamie Everett,a former Southwest player, is the offensive linecoach.

Wolf Tails: Last year Co-Lin rallied to beat the Bears30-13 at Summit as quarterback Cedric Johnson threw 3 touchdownpasses. Johnson ran and passed for a TD in the fourthquarter.