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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

D. J. Pierce (#17), C. J. O'Quin (#28) & ? @ Co-Lin
Chuck Barnes

Football Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information

Bears fall to 9th-ranked Co-Lin

The 2013 football season came to an end for the Southwest Bears Thursday night as they fell to rival Co-Lin, 42-14, in Wesson. Co-Lin entered the game ranked 9th in the most recent NJCAA poll.
 
The Bears finished the year with an overall record of 2-7 and 1-5 in the MACJC's South Division. Co-Lin ended their season at 7-2 and 4-2.
 
Southwest played tough in the first quarter, running 23 offensive plays to Co-Lin's 12, but trailed 8-0 at the end of the first 15:00. The Wolves scored when quarterback Daniel Fitzwater connected with De'Vante Nichols for a 48 yard touchdown with 11:30 on the clock. Koy McFarland completed a pass to Carroll Phillips for the two point conversion.
 
Completing a 68-yard, 15-play drive that started in the first quarter, Jamal Hall put the Bears on the board with a 16-yard dash to paydirt with 13:02 to play before the half. Michal McDaniel booted the extra point to make the score 8-7.
 
The Wolves used only four plays in responding as DeLance Turner completed a 70-play drive with a one-yard run into the end zone with 10:30 on the clock. Blayne Jones kicked the PAT to make the score 15-7.
 
After forcing the Bears to punt, Co-Lin added their final touchdown of the half when Fitzwater threw a five-yard scoring pass to Javon Washington with 1:21 to play. Jones' extra point gave the Wolves a 21-7 halftime advantage.
 
The Wolves wasted little time in scoring their only points of the third quarter. Starting the opening possession of the second half at their own 31-yard line, the hosts needed only four plays to score and go up 28-7. Kelton Smith did the honors on a 41-yard run into the end zone and Jones again added the extra point.
 
A fumble forced by Nicholas McDonald and recovered by C. J. O'Quin led to the Bears final points of the night. Taking over at the Co-Lin 20-yard line, a Chris Jones run put the ball at the 12. De'Angelo Ballard did the rest with a 12-yard scoring run with 4:10 on the clock. McDaniel's extra point made the score 28-14 at the end of the quarter.
 
Co-Lin scored the only points of the final quarter as Diquan Davis carried the ball for touchdowns of seven and 43 yards. Jones booted both extra points to give the Wolves their final margin of victory.
 
"We played hard," said first-year Southwest head coach Tucker Peavey. "We've just got to get better personnel and we've got to do a better job as coaches and get our program where that one (Co-Lin's) is."
 
One positive note for the Bears on the night was the fact that the committed no turnovers. "We did limit the turnovers," Peavey said. "(But) we had not a very smart penalty on one of their punt returns when they blocked us in the back and then we did something we shouldn't do. So, instead of being able to take advantage of something, it's a wash and we've got to keep the ball where it is. Those are the kinds of plays we've got to quit making and, again, we've just got to get better in every facet of our program."

Southwest was limited to 204 yards of total offense on the night, 166 coming via the rush. Ballard led the Bears' ground game with 55 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Hall ran the ball 12 times for 49 yards and a score.
 
Ballard completed four of 16 passes in the game for 38 yards. Kelvin Williams, Bodarius Johnson, Dylan Knott and Aaron Chappell all had one reception.
 
The Bears picked up 13 first downs in the game. They were penalized five times for 24 yards. Taylor Smith punted the ball eight times for an average of 37.4 yards.
 
Fitzwater led the Co-Lin offense by completing 25 of 31 passes for 447 yards. He threw two touchdown passes. Casey Gladney had 10 receptions for 163 yards. Smith led the Co-Lin ground attack with 97 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
 
The Wolves registered 27 first downs on the night. They were penalized nine times for 85 yards and lost both of their fumbles. Trent Furr punted once for 42 yards.
 
Asked what is next for the Southwest coaches, Peavey said, "We start to work on next year. We'll be recruiting, we'll be working the guys (current freshmen) out in the off-season and every day of the week we're going to do something that makes us a better football team."
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