True Blue Co-Lin Wolfpack thumps East Central
Published 8:00 pm Friday, September 14, 2012
WESSON – True Blue Thursday had a happy ending for the Co-Lin Wolfpack. In a night of twos, Co-Lin quarterback Chandler Rogers threw a pair of touchdown passes to DeVante Scott, Darius Guy rushed for two touchdowns and cornerback Greg Sims intercepted two passes, directing the Wolfpack to a 47-10 South Division thumping of the East Central Community College Warriors.
Wearing royal blue jerseys and pants, the Pack (2-1, 1-0) pleased the partisan crowd in Stone Stadium. They intercepted East Central quarterback Colton Kane five times and broke open a 20-10 game with four, second-half touchdowns.
“I knew we had to make up for last week,” said Sims, recalling Co-Lin’s lopsided 42-21 loss to Northwest last Thursday. “I was in the right place at the right time tonight. We knew if we shut the run down, they would have to pass it.”
Sims, a freshman from Brookhaven, picked off Kane in the first quarter and returned the theft 16 yards to paydirt. Nolan Long’s PAT kept the momentum on Co-Lin’s side of the field as they forged a 20-3 halftime lead.
Guy’s 47-yard run to the ECCC 1-yard line set up his first TD on the next play. Co-Lin led 13-0 with 1:49 left in the first quarter.
Rogers hooked up with wide receiver Darren Anderson on a 42-yard pass to the Warriors’ 5-yard line. On the next play, Guy scored out of the Wildcat formation, making it 20-zip, with 14:53 left in the half.
Guy finished with 12 carries for 57 yards. Van Lee took over in the second half and carried 11 times for 56 yards.
In an effort to deflect ECCC’s fierce pass rush in the second half, Co-Lin coach Glenn Davis had Rogers roll out of the pocket on pass plays to hit his receivers. Rogers passed to Scott for 14 yards and a TD. Scott juked an ECCC defender at the 3-yard line and sauntered into the endzone, making it 27-10.
“We tried to run and make (Warriors) chase us,” said Davis, explaining his offensive strategy while munching on a large slice of pizza in his office. “We wanted to get the ball to our skill players. DeVante Scott is a good player.”
Scott, a sophomore from Ferriday, La., made his second TD catch on a crossing pattern after the Warriors were penalized for pass interference. Co-Lin led 34-10 with 11:34 left in the game.
Co-Lin freshman defensive back Milton Griffin almost took his interception to the house but was brought down at ECCC’s 36-yard line. It led to Lee’s 11-yard scoring sweep around left end, making its 41-10.
The final Co-Lin score came on a dazzling, 43-yard punt return from Casey Gladney. He caught the punt on a bounce and raced down the sideline to paydirt.
Besides Sims and Griffin, Fred Coleman and Jeremy Davis collected interceptions for the Wolves.
Rogers discussed Co-Lin’s second-half offensive strategy. “We wanted to try and go faster and get things going. East Central had a good defensive line but our offensive line really stepped it up. I felt really good throwing the ball.”
For the game, Rogers completed 20 of 33 passes for 217 yards. Darren Anderson caught 4 passes for 62 yards. Scott had 6 catches for 40 yards. Joe Craig, Jr. caught 3 passes for 38 yards. Christian “Bubba” Keene caught 3 balls for 30 yards.
“We protected our quarterback a lot better tonight,” Davis pointed out. “We have to keep working hard every week to get better.”
The Warriors (0-3, 0-1), still looking for their first win, got 87 yards rushing on 15 carries from Keshun Shipp. Kane’s third-quarter, 89-yard scoring pass to Ricky Hunt was ECCC’s offensive highlight.
Co-Lin’s next assignment is a Thursday night South Division test at Hinds in Raymond. Kickoff is 7 p.m.