No. 4 Co-Lin falls in shootout at No. 9 Jones
Published 2:00 pm Sunday, September 29, 2013
![DAILY LEADER / NATALIE DAVIS / Co-Lin's Casey Gladney (8) outruns Jones County's D'Andre Jackson (16), Charles Lewis (17) and Marcus Betts (14). Gladney had 10 catches for 168 yards and four touchdowns.](http://dailyleader.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2013/09/Casey-Gladney-300x170.jpg)
DAILY LEADER / NATALIE DAVIS / Co-Lin’s Casey Gladney (8) outruns Jones County’s D’Andre Jackson (16), Charles Lewis (17) and Marcus Betts (14). Gladney had 10 catches for 168 yards and four touchdowns.
ELLISVILLE – The Jones County Junior College Bobcats (5-0, 3-0) were able to run their two minute drill to perfection on Saturday afternoon against the Copiah-Lincoln Wolfapck (4-1, 2-1). The No. 9 Bobcats got a two-yard rushing touchdown from Ra’Quazious Boyd with 17 seconds remaining in the game to give them a 50-47 win over the No. 4-ranked Wolfpack.
Co-Lin kicked off to Jones with 2:27 remaining in the game after taking the lead in exciting fashion. Facing a 4th and 10 from midfield, Co-Lin quarterback Daniel Fitzwater hit wide receiver Casey Gladney for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Gladney was able to out sprint the Jones defense to a ball that appeared to be sailing over his head and made the spectacular one handed catch in stride. Blayne Jones was good on the point after kick and Co-Lin led 47-43. Gladney, a University of Cincinnati commit, had a monster day catching the football, finishing with 10 catches for 168 yards and four touchdowns.
Co-Lin started the game off in dominating fashion as they raced to a 20-3 first quarter lead. Cornerback Arthur Maulet put the first Wolfpack touchdown on the board with an electrifying 60-yard interception return for a touchdown off of Jones starting quarterback Steven Swindle. Swindle would finish the game 21-of43 and 317 yards. It was the benching of Swindle late in the third quarter that would end up causing the biggest momentum swing of the game.
Swindle was replaced by freshman quarterback Kenneth Coleman after Co-Lin began the 3rd quarter with two long touchdown drives. A 12-play Co-Lin drive to start the second half covered 75 yards and took over 5 minutes off of the clock. It was capped by a two yard touchdown pass from Fitzwater to Gladney. Jones was good on the point after kick and Co-Lin pushed their lead to 34-22.
Four minutes later, the Wolfpack offense would strike again with another Fitzwater to Gladney touchdown pass, this one from 38 yards and with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter Co-Lin led Jones 41-22.
Coleman was inserted as the Bobcat quarterback because of his running ability and after throwing an interception on his first drive he rewarded the trust of his coaching staff. Coleman finished the game 10-of-15 for 128 yards and ran the ball twice for 21 yards.
With Coleman in running the option the Bobcat ground game had a big fourth quarter to get their team back in the game. Jones got one touchdown run in the fourth from Jarrett Smith and two from Justin Harris to lessen the Co-Lin lead and eventually overtake the Wolfpack.
The first half saw Co-Lin showing a strong running game of their own with the running back duo of Kelton Smith and Van Lee. For the game, Smith finished with 17 rushes for 61 yards and Lee finished with 14 carries for 53 yards. Smith scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Lee scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 49 second left in the second quarter.
The Jones offense would show just how quickly they could move the ball after the Lee touchdown put Co-Lin up 27-19 with 49 seconds left in the first half. Three plays by the Bobcats covered 60 yards and Jones kicker Grant McLaurin converted a 22-yard field goal as the first half clock expired. Co-Lin led 27-22 at half.
Fitzwater finished the game 25-of-40 for 369 yards, one interception, and four touchdowns. On the night, the Co-Lin racked up 493 yards total offense; however the Jones offense totaled 596 total yards. Co-Lin controlled the ball 10 minutes longer than the Bobcats, but the fast paced Jones offense ran 12 more offensive plays than the Wolves.
The Co-Lin defense was handicapped by the ejection of safety Kalen Jackson on a questionable targeting penalty in the second quarter. The Wolfpack also lost starting defensive lineman Anthony Cunningham for the game to a leg injury on the opening drive.
Standout middle linebacker Jordan Harris charted 12 tackles for Co-Lin. BeJay Welch and Arthur Maulet had interceptions for the Wolfpack.
Co-Lin returns to action in Wesson on Thursday, Oct. 3, when they host the No.7 Itawamba Indians. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Stone Stadium.