SUMMIT – Co-Lin’s players and fans had a good reason for anall-night celebration after beating archrival Southwest CommunityCollege 22-9 Thursday night in Hurst Stadium. The victory endedSouthwest’s 4-year dominance of the series and the Wolves, rankedNo. 13 in the latest NJCAA poll, remained unbeaten in fourgames.

The Wolves sparkled on defense and got the job done on offenseto win their fourth straight game. They limited Southwest to just164 yards total offense and Co-Lin cornerback Aaron Pittsintercepted 2 passes by quarterback Steve Erdey.

“It feels great to win,” said Pitts. “(Southwest) humiliated uslast year,” recalling the 50-7 massacre at Wesson. “Our sophomoresremembered that. We wanted to be 4-0.”

Late in the first half, with Co-Lin leading 12-9, PIttsintercepted Erdey’s long pass in the end zone. Pitts decided toreturn the theft and rambled 100 yards to paydirt, spinning out oftackles and picking up good blocks along the way. However, anillegal block penalty, erased the TD.

Co-Lin first-year head coach Dave Cross was delighted with thevictory. “This has been a long time coming. Our offense came outthe second half and established themselves against the best defensein the state. We flat-out ran the football on them the secondhalf.”

The Wolves finished with 43 rushes for 139 yards. They were ledby sophomore fullbacks Aaron Yarborough and Lorenzo Townsend whorushed for 59 and 49 yards respectively.

Via the airways, Co-Lin freshman quarterback Willie Johnsoncompleted 10 of 18 passes for 97 yards and was intercepted twice.Wide receiver Josh Chatman caught an 11-yard TD pass from Johnsonto cap a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive for the game’s firstscore.

Johnson injured his left shoulder during the fourth quarter on arunning play and sat out the last 4:52 of the game.

Co-Lin capitalized on defense in the second quarter whenlinebacker Antwan Marsh blocked a Southwest punt and teammateMarcus Winn recovered at the Bears’ 8-yard line. On first down,Townsend plunged over left tackle for the touchdown and a 12-0lead.

Southwest’s defense got the first points for the home team. WithCo-Lin backed up to its 1-yard line, the Bears tackled tailbackDarius Bingham in the end zone for a 2-point safety, led bylinebacker Marvin Jones.

The Bears (0-4) rose to the occasion in the second quarter whenlinebacker Joxifius Jones intercepted a Johnson pass and returnedit to Co-Lin’s 20. Four plays later, Southwest tailback JarvisRobinson scored over right tackle, making it 12-9, following BradBoyd’s PAT kick with 9:54 until halftime.

On its first possession of the third quarter, Co-Lin marched 48yards for a touchdown. Operating out of the shotgun formation,Johnson directed the Wolves to paydirt. A tackle-busting 27-yardrun by Yarborough and a 14-yard completion to Bingham set upYarborough’s 1-yard TD plunge.

Jimbo Thornton’s PAT kick was good and Co-Lin led 19-9 with10:51 left in the third quarter. Thornton kicked a 34-yard fieldgoal 3:52 left in the game.

Southwest first-year head coach Dom Green complimented theWolves. “My hat’s off to Co-Lin. They have a good team. Johnson isa good quarterback and Yarborough is a good runner.

“Co-Lin made more plays offensively than we did against theirdefense,” Green continued. “They had the most takeaways.”

Southwest lost 3 fumbles and was intercepted twice. Co-Lin lost2 fumbles and Johnson threw a pair of interceptions.

“I told our guys we have to quit shooting ourselves in thefoot,” said Green. “Penalties hurt us.”

Robinson (5-11, 165), a freshman from Memphis, was the game’sleading rusher with 23 carries for 80 yards.

Both schools celebrate homecoming next Saturday. Co-Lin hostsEast Central for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff in Stone Stadium and Southwesthosts Pearl River that night.