On paper, the matchup between Copiah-Lincoln CC and the Pearl River Wildcats looked to be a close, even matchup of two teams that came in with identical 3-2 records.

That assessment played out to be true as Co-Lin led 17-14 at halftime and got a fourth-quarter touchdown to break a 17-17 tie and win 24-17 in Poplarville on Thursday.

The victory moves CLCC to 4-2 on the season and 3-1 in MACCC South Division play. Pearl River is now 3-3 overall and 2-2 in division action.

Nearly the entire MACCC was off last week for a first of its kind bye week throughout the league. The games played on Thursday produced some surprising results.

Jones College, who beat CLCC in Ellisville 21-12, lost 17-16 to previously winless Hinds in Raymond on Thursday. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC, who came into the night unbeaten, lost 24-20 at East Central in Decatur.

CLCC and Gulf Coast are now both 3-1 in division play and will meet next week in Wesson on Sept. 17. The game is the NJCAA spotlight game of the week and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Co-Lin smoothly drove down the field to go up 7-0 on Pearl River in the first quarter as a Tray Minor (Natchez High) 1-yard touchdown run capped off an eight-play drive that covered 49 yards. The Wolves had good field position on that first offensive series after forcing a three-and-out by the Wildcats to start the game.

PRCC found something that worked offensively after that though, as quarterback Ian González

began to use his legs to pick up big chunks of yards. Gonzalez is a native of Mexico City who prepped at St. Stanislaus and drew his first career start after previously being a backup.

On Thursday, he looked unstoppable at times, rushing 31 times for 243 yards and one score.
González picked up 45 yards on a long run during the Pearl River drive following Co-Lin’s opening score. He later capped the possession by hitting Christian White for a 5-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.

The Wolves responded immediately, with a drive that saw sophomore quarterback Will Loy (Wesson) hitting Deantre “The Jet” Jackson Jr. for a 27-yard passing play. Two plays later, Jackson, a transfer from Southeastern Louisiana who hails from New Orleans, picked up 25-yards on a run down to the PRCC 10-yard line.

On the next play, Loy hit Jackson Jr. for a five-yard scoring pass that put Co-Lin ahead 14-7.

Like a tennis player returning a volley, Pearl River immediately answered the score to tie the game again at 14-14 late in the first quarter.

González ran for 25 yards to jump start the drive. He ended it with a 31-yard touchdown run that saw the freshman quarterback dive from the 3-yard line and hit the pylon while taking a hit himself.

A 26-yard field goal by Humberto Rosales (Birmingham, Ala.) put the Wolves ahead 17-14 in the second quarter and that score held to halftime as the teams mostly traded punts before the break.

That was also the third quarter and on the third play of the fourth quarter, Pearl River kicker Morgan Craft made a 35-yard field goal that tied the game at 17-17.

The go-ahead drive for Co-Lin started with 9:45 remaining in the game and Wolves taking over on their own 24-yard line.

Loy hit freshman wideout Matt Mayfield (Beau Chene, La.) for a 17-yard gain and then an 18-yard pickup on the next play. A sack on first down made it 2nd-and-16 for the Wolves, but Minor got all that yardage and more back with a 23-yard carry.

Mayfield and Loy hooked up again on a six-yard gain via a screen pass. Jackson Jr. got Co-Lin down to the Pearl River 4-yard line with a 16-yard rush and then on the next play he scored from there to put the Wolves up for good with 6:28 remaining in the game.

González and the Pearl River offense chipped away with a plethora of short gains that got the Wildcats down to the Co-Lin 13-yard line.

A false start penalty moved PRCC backwards and then González threw an incomplete pass and was sacked on second down.

With the ball at the Co-Lin 22-yard line and less than 30 seconds remaining in the game, González was picked off by Co-Lin safety Doug Nelson (Hazlehurst High) to preserve the win for the Wolves.

Pearl River outgained Co-Lin in total combined yards 370-243. The Wildcats ran 20 more plays, but were penalized 12 times, compared to four by Co-Lin. The Wolves went just 2-of-10 on third down conversions. Loy finished 13-of-20 passing for 120 yards.

Brookhaven High product Malachi Williams was outstanding from his linebacker spot for the CLCC defense, making 15 tackles to lead the team.

In other games played on Thursday, Northwest Mississippi beat Southwest Mississippi 23-20 in Summit, Holmes CC remained the only unbeaten team in the state with a 52-21 win over Mississippi Delta, Itawamba topped Coahoma 37-14, and East Mississippi crawled back to 3-3 on the season with a 49-21 win at Northeast Mississippi.

Kickoff between Co-Lin and Gulf Coast on Thursday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.