The Copiah-Lincoln Wolves suffered their first defeat of the 2023 season last week with a road loss at Jones College in Ellisville. Head coach Glenn Davis and his team will look to rebound from that defeat and pick up their first MACCC South Division win when they host the Southwest Mississippi Bears in Stone Stadium on Thursday. Kickoff between the longtime rivals is set for 6:30 p.m.

Co-Lin held Jones College to one touchdown in the second half last week, but the problem was the Bobcats had exploded for 28 points in the second quarter alone. That surge was enough to lift JC to a 42-32 win.

Jones seized momentum when it scored a touchdown to build a 14-3 lead and then recovered an onside kick following that score. Two plays after that recovery, the Bobcats scored to go up 21-3 with the second quarter just underway.

Bad went to worse when Co-Lin fumbled on its next possession which led to another Bobcat score.

Good things finally happened for Co-Lin when quarterback Devon Tott found Dakota Thoams on a 26-yard touchdown pass. Tott also scored on a 6-yard run late in the second quarter to cut the Jones advantage to 35-17 at the break.

Tott added another touchdown run and a scoring pass to O’Ryan James in the second half, but the Jones lead was too much for CLCC to overcome.

Jones outgained Co-Lin 454-349 in total offense. The Wolves won the turnover battle as they intercepted three passes and recovered two fumbles while only turning the ball over twice.

Using its ground game, Jones had possession of the ball for seven more minutes than the Wolves in the game.

Co-Lin comes into the Southwest game with a 2-1 record, while the Bears are 1-2 after losing 55-33 last week at home to Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Bears beat Mississippi Delta 51-6 in their opener and then lost at Coahoma 37-32 a week later.

The Wolves won 44-13 over Southwest last season in Summit. Co-Lin has won eight games in a row over Southwest as the Bears last beat CLCC 45-35 in 2014.

In other MACCC games to be played on Thursday, Coahoma (1-2) plays at Holmes (2-1), Northwest Mississippi (2-1) travels to Itawamba (0-3), Hinds (1-2) takes on Pearl River (0-3), Northeast Mississippi (3-0) looks to stay perfect at Mississippi Delta (1-2), Jones (2-1) heads to East Central (1-2) and in a non-division matchup of note it’ll be Mississippi Gulf Coast traveling to Scooba to take on the East Mississippi Lions (2-1).