WESSON — Another difficult road test awaits the Copiah-LincolnWolfpack Thursday night. They make a 5-hour bus ride north toFulton to meet the Itawamba Community College Indians. Kickoff is 7p.m.

Itawamba (1-0) is fresh from a narrow 24-21 road win atSouthwest Mississippi in Summit. Co-Lin is regrouping after a 31-0shutout at Northwest in Senatobia.

“Itawamba got a big win last week,” said Co-Lin head coach GlennDavis. “They played pretty solid in all phases of the game and theydidn’t turn the ball over.”

Like Co-Lin, the Indians reached the state playoffs last season.They lost to South Division champion Co-Lin in the first round.

“(Indians) have an experienced quarterback in Tyson Lee and someveteran wide receivers,” said Davis. “They have some good skillpeople.”

Lee (5-11, 195), a sophomore from Columbus, is a preseasonAll-American.

Co-Lin is trying to regroup after its lopsided road loss atNorthwest. The Wolfpack was plagued with turnovers, suffering 3interceptions and 6 fumbles, losing 2 of them.

“We turned the ball over too much and didn’t give ourselves achance,” said Coach Davis. Freshman quarterback Micah Davis wasintercepted 3 times.

“I’m confident we will play better this week,” predicted CoachDavis. “We must execute better.”

Offensively, Co-Lin was limited to 168 yards, 92 through the airand 76 on the ground versus Northwest. Davis completed 9 of 23passes for 82 yards. Jonathan Massey caught 3 balls for 41yards.

Defensively, safety Darron Dampeer led Co-Lin with 8 solotackles and 2 assists. Linebacker Tray Hardaway followed with 5solo hits and 4 assists.

“Defensively, we played OK in spurts. We made some plays in thesecondary that hurt us.”

Freshman Will Thibodeaux punted 6 times for a 38.7-yardaverage.

“Turnovers on offense hurt us a lot,” said Davis. “We must getmore sound in the kicking game. The effort was good but we didn’tplay smart.

“We have had some receivers with a lot of injuries. Hopefully,most of them will be back.”

Indian Fans In Red

Co-Lin will encounter a sea of red in the stands tomorrow night.ICC fans are encouraged to wear red.

Lee went 29 of 44 for a touchdown and 249 yards in the victoryover Southwest. Freshman tailback Bubba Van Taylor finished with 87yards on 15 carries and took one 50 yards for a score midwaythrough the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference.

“I thought, at times, we looked good on offense, but overall Idon’t think we were satisfied with the way we played,” said ICCthird-year offensive coordinator Jeff Carter. “We’ll have to workon a number of things offensively to get ready for Co-Lin.”

Defensively, the Indians, who finished last year among thenation’s top 10 in total defense, allowed just 62 yards rushing on31 carries against Southwest in the opener. Overall, the Bearsmanaged only 230 yards of total offense.

“We had so many newcomers out there on defense, that I reallydidn’t know what to expect in that opener,” said Itawamba headcoach Jeff Terrill, who also serves as the team’s defensivecoordinator. “I thought there were a number of young men thatstepped up and made some big-time plays for us.”

Freshman Pernell McPhee led the Red and Blue’s sack attack withthree and another first-year player, Justin Wells, led the way intackles with nine.

Sophomore Amore Winters of Kosciusko also was praised by Terrillfor picking off a pass early in the 3rd quarter and returning it 26yards for a score. ICC also benefited from freshman punter HeathHutchins of Saltillo and his 53-yard average on eight punts.

Wolf Tails: Itawamba beat Co-Lin 24-13 as Leepassed for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns in the second game of the2006 season.

Co-Lin realized revenge in the state playoffs, beating theIndians 38-10 as quarterback Cedric Johnson passed for 210 yardsand 2 touchdowns and ran 49 yards for another TD. Wide receiverDamoyn Carroll caught a TD pass and ran for another. Aaron Johnsrushed for 69 yards.