WESSON – The Wolfpack will make the trip to Raymond after their first defeat of the season last Saturday at the hands of Pearl River, 17-9 in Wesson. With the loss, Co-Lin dropped from a top the NJCAA National poll to #9. Hinds Community College enters this evening match-up after dropping 3 straight contests including a 28-19 loss last Thursday versus East Central in Decatur. With the loss, the Eagles have to 3-3 on the season, and 1-2 record in the MACJC South Division.

This is the 24th year that the Eagles have been under the direction of Head Coach Gene Murphy. Hinds’ match-up with East Central a week was a battle of the Eagles passing game, the Warriors run game, and which one could hold up the longest. In the end the East Central run game proved to be too much for the Eagle defense as they rushed for 285 yards, and quarter back Jesse Hosket finished off drives with 3 touchdown strikes off of play action. While Hinds was still able to rack up 405 yards of total offense, it still proved it wasn’t enough as East Central held off a late Eagle charge to take the victory. Co-Lin holds a 36-34-3 record all-time over the Eagles.

Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, the 2015 season finally caught up to them as a storm of close games, injuries, and inexperience came into play. Co-Lin started strong mounting a powerful running attack early for a score led by sophomore running back Lakedric Lee who finished off the day with 114 rushing yards on 21 carries. With his performance, the North Pike graduate is now averaging over 100 rushing yards a game for the Wolfpack. While Lee’s performance was impressive, it was not enough to overcome multiple miss steps for the young Wolves that accompany him on the offense. Co-Lin turnover the rock 5 times, including 4 late inceptions thrown by red-shirt freshman signal caller Garrett Kruczek. While the Florida native has been nothing but the symbol of efficiency in 2015, completing over 65 percent of his attempts and leading the Wolfpack to an undefeated record up until this point, last Saturday proved to be too much for the freshman. Co-Lin and Head Coach Glenn Davis will look for Kruczek to rebound like a veteran.

On defense, it was another strong performance as the Wolves held Pearl River to under 300 yards of total offense. Sophomore linebacker Zach Williams helped turn the Wildcat rushing into being non-existent, wrapping up 5 tackles, 2 for losses and a sack on the day. Pearl River quarterbacks also had a rough day as they found themselves on their backs for most of the afternoon as they sacked down an incredible 9 times through-out the game, including 2 times by sophomore defensive end Deshon Cooper who had arguably his best day as a wolf. Though Williams and Cooper’s efforts were mighty, the Wolfpack did still drop the contest, 17-9.

Tonight’s game will also be the first time the Wolfpack will take the field since the tragic news broke that former Wolfpack quarterback Daniel Fitzwater passed away last Saturday. Fitzwater played for Co-Lin during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The Wolfpack saw some of it’s’ most successful years on the gridiron during his career, going 14-5 while Fitzwater was behind center, never losing 2 games in a row. While in Wesson, Fitzwater threw for over 5,000 yards, 41 touchdowns, and just 12 interceptions. Fitzwater had moved on in his career and was redshirt junior quarterback for the UL-Monroe Warhawks. A true Wolf, he will be missed by the entire Co-Lin family.

Kickoff versus Hinds is set for 6:30 p.m. at Joe Renfroe Stadium in Raymond. An audio broadcast of the game can be heard on WMJU 104.3 in Brookhaven or on colinathletics.com.