WESSON – Thursday night’s contest between the Co-Lin Wolves andthe East Mississippi Lions looked like two different games.

WESSON – Thursday night’s contest between the Co-Lin Wolves andthe East Mississippi Lions looked like two different games. TheWolves dominated the first half for a 25-0 lead. The Lions roaredback with 13 unanswered points in the second half but it wasn’tenough as Co-Lin held on for the 25-13 victory, ending a two-gamelosing streak.

It was East Mississippi’s third loss in-a-row.

“Our guys had their backs against the wall being 0-2,” saidCo-Lin head football coach Phil Broome following the win. “It was agood team effort. Everybody did a great job getting readytonight.”

On East Mississippi’s opening possession, the Lions had the ballfor two plays when John Miller chased a botched handoff into theendzone and was tackled by Co-Lin’s Corey Murray for a safety. TheWolves led 2-0 with 14:39 left.

Co-Lin’s first touchdown of the game (and season) came with 5:09left in the first quarter. The Wolves marched 57 yards in nineplays when runningback Andrew Burks broke around the left side fora 10-yard TD. Matt Powers PAT kick was good and Co-Lin pushed itslead over East Mississippi to 9-0 with 5:09 remaining.

The Lions were held to four downs and punted on their nextpossession as the Wolves set up their second scoring drive of thenight. From the 50-yard line, Co-Lin ran two plays when quarterbackCorey Chase connected to wide receiver Marcus Shannon for a 49-yardtouchdown with 2:19 on the clock. Powers extra point kick was ontarget and Co-Lin extended its lead over East Mississippi to16-0.

Misfortune struck the Lions on their next possession. On thesecond play, East Mississippi runningback Randy Bell fumbled andCo-Lin’s Jerry Slaughter recovered at the Lions 20 with 1:16remaining in the first quarter.

The Wolves continued possession into the second quarter with afour-play drive that set up a 24-yard field goal by Powers thatgave Co-Lin a 19-0 lead over East Mississippi with 14:13 remaininguntil halftime.

The Lions ran off three plays when Co-Lin’s Corey Murray pickedoff a James Wamble pass and returned it 45 yards for the touchdownwith 11:39 left until halftime. Powers kick missed its mark and theWolves pushed their lead to 25-0.

East Mississippi head coach Tom Goode came out on the field toquestion the call. There was movement on the Co-Lin line that wasnot called.

The Lions got a break with 6:34 left in the first half. EastMississippi blocked punter Justin Spencer’s fourth down punt andrecovered it at the Wolves 5. The Lions were flagged once andsacked twice to come away with no points as Co-Lin took over at the2:40 mark.

“We had a good first half,” Broome said. “We scored when weneeded to.”

The Lions made some big changes at halftime. East Mississippihead caoch Tom Goode brought in freshman quarterback Clevland Smithand runningback Rafael Roland who helped provide a spark to theEast Mississippi offense.

The East Mississippi defense scored the first touchdown at the8:49 mark in the third quarter. Spencer’s punt was blocked for thesecond time of the night and recovered in the end zone by PeterMalone for the Lions. Javoe Matlock kicked the PAT and the Wolveslead was cut to 25-7 by East Mississippi.

Co-Lin had a golden opportunity to put more points on thescoreboard after marching from their own 22-yard line to the EastMississippi one late in the third quarter. The next three runningplays resulted in big losses back to the Lions 16. Powers attempteda 26-yard field goal that was blocked by Malone with 14:53remaining in the game.

East Mississippi scored its final touchdown of the game aftermarching 79 yards on 12 plays when Smith connected to MatthewVaughn for a 10-yard touchdown with 3:21 in the game. The pass fortwo points failed and Co-Lin held on to a 25-13 win over EastMississippi.

“We played a better second half,” stated Goode. “We started anew quarterback. Played the younger guys, runningback and twooffensive linemen.”

Co-Lin played tough,” added Goode. “They were ready to play. Wehave to regroup.”

Both teams had eight first downs apiece.

Co-Lin (1-2) visits Mississippi Delta Thursday night. Kickoff isset for 7 p.m. @Linescore:East Mississippi 0 0 7 6 – 13Co-Lin 16 9 0 0 – 25