ELLISVILLE – Copiah-Lincoln lost the statistical battle, but wonwhere it counts on the scoreboard. The Wolves allowed Jones JuniorCollege to gain 439 yards, but the defense made big plays, forcedturnovers and blocked a late field goal to claim a 21-20 victoryover the Bobcats at Bush-Young Stadium Thursday.

“It’s good to win the last one,” said Co-Lin head coach PhilBroome. “Our guys came in here and played hard. The guys stayedfocused and we took it to them. “The defense played extremelyhard.”

The Wolves defense gave up chunks of yardage, but came up withnumerous big plays to stop Jones drives.

Co-Lin took the lead for good two plays into the fourth quarterwhen quarterback Odell Bradley found Novack Traxler in the back ofthe end zone with a 20-yard touchdown pass. Mat Powers’ extra pointkick with 14:42 left in the game provided the Wolves with thewinning margin.

But the game-saving play came on the ensuing series. After a30-yard kickoff return by Rashard Phillips, the Bobcats marchedfrom their own 35 to the Co-Lin 8 with a first down. Two short runsand an incomplete pass later, Will Parker set up for a potentialgo-ahead field goal from 22-yards out. But the Wolves defensepoured in and Jerry Slaughter blocked the kick to end thethreat.

Led by Josh Tate, Lester Magee, Willie Carter and Fred Blueford,Jones stopped Co-Lin on its next possession and the Bobcats begantheir final series with 6:49 remaining. Jones moved from its own 39to the Wolves 40, but on fourth-and-8, Bobcat quarterback KevinHuff was sacked by Ricky Funchees for an 11-yard loss.

Co-Lin gained two first downs to chew up the remaining fourminutes on the clock and preserve the road win.

The opening series of the game put the Bobcats in a hole. A27-yard pass from Bradley to Lorenzo Townsend and an 11-yard tossto Bradlon Huff moved the Wolves into Jones territory at the 42.One play later, Dairus Bingham avoided two tackles in thebackfield, weaved through traffic, then outran the defense to theend zone for a 42-yard scoring run. Powers’ PAT gave Co-Lin a 7-0lead with 12:09 to go in the first quarter.

Jones responded with an from its own 27 to the Wolves 30, butthe drive was interrupted when Kevin Huff was intercepted by SidneyWiley.

The next time the Bobcats had the ball, Ralph Davis ran for 27yards and a first down in Wolves territory. A promising march endedwith a Co-Lin interception by Aaron Pitts. Jones started its nextseries at the Co-Lin 45 and drove to the 6-yard line before thedrive stalled. A 23-yard field goal attempt was wide left, keepingthe Wolves edge at 7-0.

With 9:00 to go in the first half, the Bobcats punted to TracyBarlow at his own 25, who appeared hemmed in by a a swarm of Jonesdefenders. But Barlow backtracked to the 20, moving to his right,then he cut back through the coverage and returned the punt 75yards for a touchdown. Powers’ extra point gave the Wolves a 14-0advantage.

Jones ensuing possession carried the Bobcats to the Co-Lin 24before Pitts grabbed his second interception of the first half.

The Bobcats finally got on the board just before halftime whenDavis capped a 7-play, 43-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.Parker’s PAT cut Jones deficit to 14-7 with 1:48 left in thehalf.

Jones tied the game with 5:54 remaining in the third period.Huff completed passes to John Hill, Larry Pacific and Tim Chapmanto move the Bobcats from their own 27 to the Wolves 21. The last 21yards were covered when Huff scrambled to his left, and foundChapman open at the 5-yard line for a 21-yard touchdown strike.Parker added the PAT to knot the score at 14-all.

The two teams then exchanged turnovers. Funchees recovered aJones fumble, then three plays later, Bradley was intercepted byTate. It took the Bobcats just two plays to score. Ahmad Harris,who caught 12 passes for 149 yards, made a 45-yard grab to theCo-Lin 10. Jones then took its only lead on a 10-yard touchdown runby Davis. Parker’s extra point kick was wide right, keeping thescore at 20-14.

Co-Lin then mounted its game-winning march.

“Jones had a lot of turnovers, but I hope we forced some ofthem,” said Broome. “When we scored on the punt return, thatshifted the momentum to us.”

“We should have won the game,” said Jones head coach ParkerDykes. “We got behind in the first half, had to comeback, and wedid. The we went ahead and had to stop them and we didn’t.

“We can it blame the kicker. We were down there several timesand couldn’t score.”

Jones earned 22 first downs to just 10 for Co-Lin. Davis gained168 yards on the ground and Huff was accurate on 22-of-33 passesfor 246 yards and three interceptions.

Bingham was the leading rusher for the Wolves with 91 yards on11 carries. Co-Lin had 256 total yards.

Both teams finish the season with 3-7 overall records.