WESSON — Tick, tick, tick.

Time ran out on the Co-Lin Wolves Saturday afternoon insun-baked Stone Stadium. The Wolves almost pulled out a last-minutehomecoming victory but the Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogsescaped with a 30-27 victory.

Co-Lin (1-1) had marched to the Gulf Coast 36, riding thepassing arm of freshman quarterback Cedric Johnson. After a 10-yardholding penalty against the Wolves, Johnson launched a 22-yardcompletion to wide receiver Damoyn Carroll.

As Carroll was being tackled at the Bulldogs’ 24-yard line, thefootball came loose and Antoine Jones recovered for Gulf Coast. TheBulldogs (2-0) ran out the final 87 seconds of the game, allowingCoach Steve Campbell and his squad to celebrate.

“Our season is far from over,” said Johnson, saturated withsweat. “We have a good team this year.”

Johnson completed 21 of 42 passes for 275 yards and 2touchdowns. He also ran 19 yards for another score.

“Nobody hung their heads at the end of the game,” said Johnson.”We kept fighting until the end. We didn’t want to lose ourhomecoming game.”

The Bulldogs started strong, taking a 14-0 lead in the firstquarter. Sophomore quarterback Eric Walden directed the Bulldogs 65yards in 7 plays with the game-opening kickoff. He scored on a2-yard sneak and Trey Read kicked the extra point.

After Co-Lin’s Chris Blackwell was wide right on a 44-yard fieldgoal attempt, the Bulldogs launched a 74-yard touchdown drive.Walden faked a handoff, circled right end and raced the final 343yards to paydirt. It was 14-0 with 6:11 left in the firstquarter.

The Wolfpack began their first scoring drive at the Gulf Coast48-yard line with 6:11 left in the first half. The 9-play drive wasclimaxed with a 3-yard scoring pass from Johnson to DonavanDickson.

The pass was intended for fullback Matt Delaughter but the ballbounced off his chest and was clinched by Dickson. A fake PAT kickwas smothered when holder Michael Blackwell was tackled.

The teams swapped interceptions as the first half ended. KruzLong intercepted in the end zone to kill a Bulldog touchdown threatwith 2 seconds left on the clock.

Walden, from Thomasville, Ga., hooked up with C.J. Hawthorne ona 71-yard scoring pass on the third play of the second half. Readmissed the PAT and the Bulldogs led 20-6.

Coach Glenn Davis praised his Co-Lin squad after the hard-foughtcontest. “I’m proud of the way we played. We could have laiddown.

“Gulf Coast has a good team and they’ve got some SEC players,”Davis pointed out. “They play mighty well. We can still have a goodyear.”

Davis watched his team come back strong. The Wolfpack began an82-yard scoring drive which lasted 6 minutes and required 14 plays.A fourth-down, 15-yard completion from Johnson to Maurice Taylorset the stage for Delaughter’s 1-yard scoring plunge.

On the PAT try, Michael Blackwell attempted a conversion passbut it fell in complete and Co-Lin trailed 20-12.

Co-Lin’s defense rose to the occasion on the next series. TheBulldogs went for it on fourth down and Walden was thrown for a4-yard loss at his 40. Four plays later, Johnson hooked up withCarroll who made a leaping catch in the end zone.

On the 2-point conversion pass, Johnson rolled to his right,dodged a tackler and hit Michael Bibbs in the end zone. It was20-20 with 1:06 left in the third quarter.

Walden went to the airways and hit wide receiver Tony Burks witha first-down toss of 56 yards to the Co-Lin 8-yard line. BernardSeymour went the distance on the next play and the Bulldogs led27-20.

On their next possession, the Bulldogs scored again, this time a30-yard field goal by Read made it 30-20.

Co-Lin responded with a determined 81-yard touchdown march. A42-yard completion from Johnson to Dickson gave Co-Lin a first downat GC’s 19. Johnson scrambled for the TD on the next play and itwas 30-37 with 3:21 remaining in the game.

The Wolfpack is at home Saturday for another South Divisiongame, hosting East Central. Kickoff is 2:30.