WESSON – Another Thursday night brings another big MACJC showdown for the Copiah-Lincoln football team. The Wolfpack will step out of South Division play this week as they host the Itawamba Indians of the North Division. Itawamba (5-0, 3-0) comes into the game ranked No.4 in the nation by the NJCAA and Co-Lin (4-1, 2-1) is ranked No. 9. Fans are asked to wear pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Co-Lin is coming off of a 50-47 loss to the No. 3 Jones County Bobcats on Saturday. Co-Lin freshman quarterback Daniel Fitzwater had the best game of his career against Jones. Fitzwater went 23-of-38 for 340 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Casey Gladney had an outstanding day catching the football for the Wolfpack offense. The sophomore wide out from Columbia, South Carolina caught 10 passes for 169 yards and four touchdowns. For his efforts Gladney was awarded the MACJC Offensive Player of the Week.

Co-Lin was led on the ground against Jones by the running back duo of sophomores Van Lee and Kelton Smith. Lee rushed the ball 14 times for 68 yards and one touchdown. Smith had 17 rushes for 53 yards, one touchdown, and caught one pass for 16 yards. Co-Lin middle linebacker Jordan Harris led the defense with 14 tackles. Wolfpack defensive back Arthur Maulet intercepted a Jones County pass and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown.

For the season Fitzwater is 87-of-153 for 1,161 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions. Smith leads the Wolfpack with 363 yards rushing and Lee follows with 307 yards gained on the ground. Gladney has made 26 catches this season for 376 yards. Freshman wide receiver Koy McFarland has caught 12 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns this season. Freshman kicker Blayne Jones is 17-of-20 on point after attempts and 5-of-9 on field goal attempts for the season.

Itawamba won their homecoming game against Northwest, 27-21, in Fulton on Saturday. The Indians are 2-0 against south division teams this season after defeating East Central 40-7 in week one and Southwest 40-6 in week two. The Indians are under the direction of fourth year head coach Jon Williams.

The Wolfpack made the over four hour trip to Fulton last season and escaped with a close 17-14 victory over Itawamba. The winning score came with 12:53 remaining in the game on a 24-yard field goal by Co-Lin kicker Nolan Long. The two teams combined for ten turnovers in the game.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday in Stone Stadium. Watch live at www.colinathletics.com or listen on WMJU 104.3 FM.