WESSON — Defensive tackle Rex Hill and his Co-Lin teammatesface a difficult challenge Thursday night against SouthwestCommunity College in Summit. They have to catch Southwestscrambling quarterback Fred Jones. Kickoff for the South Divisiongame is 7 p.m.

Hill (6-3, 312, soph.) from Marathon, Fla., was selected theDefensive Player of the Week in the MACJC after his performanceagainst Jones County Community College. He accounted for 13tackles, including 2 sacks, in Co-Lin’s 17-14 South Divisionloss.

“Rex is a kid who has a lot of ability,” said Co-Lin head coachGlenn Davis. “He’s strong and physical. The biggest differentbetween this year is that he’s lost some weight and has been ableto stay healthy. He had a bad ankle last year.”

Hill probably lost 30 or 35 pounds, according to Davis. “Rex hasbeen pretty dominant inside for us.”

Hill said, “I started running in the morning and then I’d walkaround the school at night after I ate supper to speed up mymetabolism. I also drank a lot of water.”

Hill said the loss of weight builds his stamina, too. “Myendurance has improved a lot.”

Asked about the Southwest quarterback, Hill said, “I hope we cancontain him and make the other players try to beat us. I think wecan get a win down there.”

Co-Lin (1-4, 0-4) is still looking for its first South Divisionwin of the season. Southwest (2-3, 2-2) upset Hinds 19-13 in theseason opener and edged Gulf Coast 34-31 in overtime to claim 2South victories., Last Saturday the Bears lost their homecominggame to North Division foe Itawamba, falling 24-13.

Davis said his team is still struggling with growing pains in anunusual, abbreviated season. Hurricane Katrina caused havoc onseveral campuses and the season was delayed by two weeks andschedule shortened by 2 games.

Looking at the loss to Jones County, Davis said, “On offense, wemust quit doing the immature, silly things. We must grow up and getit done.”

The Wolfpack trailed Jones 17-6 early in the fourth quarter. A10-yard Cedric Johnson touchdown pass to Damoyn Carroll andJohnson’s 2-point conversion run reduced the deficit to 17-14 with2:58 left to play.

Co-Lin got the ball back with 22 seconds left to play. CharlesMcCrea had returned the Jones punt 42 yards to the Bobcats’ 25-yardline but a 10-yard penalty pushed them out of field goal range.Johnson scrambled for 12 yards and then his wide receiver BudChatman with an 11-yard pass but Chatman was unable to get out ofbounds and time expired.

“All the way across the offense we need to become moreconsistent,” said Davis. “We need to get out of bounds.”

For the game, Johnson completed 13 of 35 passes for 157 yardsand 2 touchdowns. Carroll had 4 catches for 42 yards.

The Wolves managed just 110 yards rushing. They were led byRashawn Robinson’s 13 rushes for 54 yards.

On defense, Davis said the Wolves must contain the 5-foot-8,170-pound Jones, a sophomore from Magnolia. “We must find a way toslow their quarterback down. He makes them go. Jones will duck anddart and hide and slip under you. He’s hard to get a hand on.”

Jones has passed for 975 yards and 7 touchdowns. He’s completed71 of 114 passes and been intercepted 10 times. His best game wasagainst Gulf Coast when he completed 21 of 34 passes for 410 yardsand 3 TDs.

At running back, Marckus Crockett (5-10, 182) of Liberty isSouthwest’s main rusher. He has gained 305 yards in 5 games.

“The Crockett kid from Amite County is a good running back,”said Davis. “Their receivers are athletic. You can’t afford to getbeat.”

Sophomore Jessie Burton (5-9, 180, soph.) is Southwest’s leadingreceiver. He has caught 24 passes for an average of 10.1 yards percatch and has 2 TDs.

Asked about Southwest’s defense, Davis said, “They run well andplay hard. Southwest is not very big but they are athletic and faston both sides of the ball.”

Bears Hungry For Win

“Co-Lin is very similar to us,” said Southwest head coach DomGreen. “We are both hungry for a win.”

Green, in his fifth year at the helm of Southwest’s footballfortunes, saw his team finish 2-7 last season and 1-5 in theSouth.

“I think both teams are more talented than last year but ithasn’t translated into many more wins for either of us,” Greennoted. “We have our work cut out for us if we are going to winit.”

Wolf Tails: Last year Southwest whipped Co-Lin26-7 at Wesson, wrecking the Wolfpack’s homecoming celebration.Co-Lin beat the Bears 30-7 in 2003, at Summit.