WESSON – The Copiah-Lincoln Wolfpack begin a pivotal stretch of their season with a trip to Poplarville on Thursday. Co-Lin faces off with the Pearl River Wildcats in a 7 p.m. kickoff in Dobie Holden Stadium.

The Wolfpack (3-2, 1-1) are coming off of a 43-0 destruction of East Central in Wesson. It only took Co-Lin 26 seconds to put points on the board when sophomore cornerback Arthur Maulet returned an East Central interception for a score. Co-Lin got two punt return touchdowns from Mississippi State commit Donald Gray. For his efforts Gray was named the state and national special teams player of the week. Sophomore defensive lineman Johnathan Calvin, another Mississippi State commit, notched a safety on the final play of the game. Linebacker Zac Williams led Co-Lin with nine tackles.

Pearl River (3-2, 1-2) is led by second year head coach Williams Jones. Jones and the Wildcats are coming off a big 34-7 win over Southwest in Summit. Pearl River posted 347 yards of total offense in the win and only took four plays to score on their first drive.

The Wildcats are led by quarterback Kaylon Cooper, an Independence CC (Kan.) transfer. Pearl River, which began the season 2-0 with wins over Coahoma and Holmes, was ranked No. 18 in the nation going into their week-three matchup with Hinds. They dropped that game at Hinds and lost the next week to Jones before righting the ship with the big win over Southwest. Last season Co-Lin topped Pearl River 37-27 in Wesson. The Wolfpack are 4-1 against the Wildcats in their last five meetings.

For the season Co-Lin quarterback Daniel Fitzwater has thrown for 1,340 yards on 89-of-147 passing with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. De’Lance Turner leads the Co-Lin ground attack with 259 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Gray is the top receiver with 485 yards on 19 catches. His 25.5 yards per catch is second in the nation. Sophomore defensive tackle Demond Tucker leads the team with 32 total tackles. The Hazlehurst native has made 5.5 sacks and six tackles for a loss. Maulet and Dy-Celious Reese are tied for the lead with two interceptions apiece.

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. in Poplarville and can be heard on 104.3 FM in Brookhaven and on colinathletics.com.