WESSON – Southwest Mississippi Community College has the abilityto run the football. The Bears will have another opportunity toshowcase their rushing attack Thursday night when they host theCo-Lin Wolves in a South Division battle of ancient rivals. Kickoffis 7 p.m. in Hurst Stadium.

Southwest (3-4, 1-3), coached by Dom Green, beat Gulf Coast35-19 last Thursday night at Perkinston. Southwest is second in theleague in rushing offense, averaging 203.7 yards per game. TheBears are at the bottom in passing (98.0 ypg).

Tailback Joseph Tobias is top dog in Southwest’s attack. Tobiasrushed the football 25 times for 155 yards and 1 TD in the win atGulf Coast.

Dencen Clay, a sophomore tailback, has been injured. Clay has484 yard rushing on the season. Tailback Scotty Reddix wasall-state last year but has played in only one game because ofinjuries.

Reggie Lindsey (6-0, 180), a sophomore from Pensacola, Fla.,started the season as a wide receiver but was moved to quarterbackfor three games. Lindsey leads the junior college conference inscoring with nine touchdowns.

Brookhaven native Ryan Ross is in his first season as offensivecoordinator at Southwest. He held a similar position at BHS lastyear.

“We have to work for everything we get,” said Ross. “We broke a4-game losing streak by running the football. We really needed awin. Hopefully, this gives us some momentum facing our rival.”

Co-Lin (2-5, 1-3) was a 28-6 victim of Holmes Community Collegelast Thursday, losing to the Bulldogs at Wesson. Co-Lin’s offensehas struggled this season, ranking 8th in rushing and passing.

Coach Green said the Bears and Wolves are similar. “I thinkCo-Lin is a good football team. They are very similar to us. Theirrecord doesn’t indicate how good they are.”

Green said the Wolves have had their share of breakdowns, too.”Against East Central (3 weeks ago) they had opportunities forinterceptions. Last week against Holmes, it was the same kind ofstory. Hinds didn’t dominate them,” in a 20-0 homecoming loss.

The Bears have had some narrow setbacks to the South Divisionleaders, losing 17-14 on a late field goal to Hinds and 14-6 toPearl River a week later.

“If we hold onto the ball against Hinds we win it,” Greenrecalled. “We didn’t execute against Pearl River.”

Most coaches proclaim that “close only counts in horseshoes” andGreen agrees. “We have lost four games by a total of 14 points. Itdoesn’t matter if you lost by one point or a thousand, youlost.”

Green said the rivalry aspect is secondary. “The bottom line is,that both teams are in search of wins. It’s an important gamebecause it’s our next game.”

There are 20 sophomores and 35 freshmen on Southwest’ssquad.

“Co-Lin’s defense is really good,” said Green. “Coach (Paul)Purvis has them playing hard defensively. Big plays have hurtCo-Lin. Holmes threw two up for grabs and they caught them fortouchdowns.”

The Wolves, ranked No. 4 in total defense, are 8th in rushingdefense and third in passing defense.

Co-Lin head coach David Poinsett said Southwest is loaded withgood players but victories have eluded the Bears.

“They had a good game at Gulf Coast. They have good, overallteam speed. They just haven’t caught the breaks this year. They’rea blue collar football team. They come at you hard.”

Against Holmes, the Wolves got a 2-yard scoring run fromquarterback Johnathan Little in the third quarter to avoid ashutout.

“Our special teams did better against Holmes but we still havesome fundamental things we need to work on,” said Poinsett.Sophomore running backs Shermaine Vaughn and Johnathan Eley havebeen slowed by injuries this season and Co-Lin’s offensive line hasbeen in a rebuilding mode.

“Vaughn and Eley have been banged up a little bit,” saidPoinsett. “Hopefully, we can have them ready for Thursdaynight.”

Co-Lin’s defensive leader is sophomore linebacker Tim Dobbins ofMendenhall He has 43 solo tackles and 37 assists.

Damien Huren has intercepted 5 passes for Southwest.

Poinsett said he anticipates a heated struggle tomorrow night.”It’s a traditional rivalry. It will be a knock-down, drag-outbattle. The kids know each other and they want to win. Theintensity should pick up on both sides of the football.”

Wolf Tails: Co-Lin has beaten Southwest twostraight years, winning 16-10 at Wesson last season and 22-9 in2001 at Summit. The Bears roared to a 50-7 victory in 2000.