Bears maul 9th-ranked Co-Lin

The Southwest Bears picked up their first win of the season in a major way Thursday night, upsetting their arch-rivals Co-Lin, 45-35, before a capacity crowd at John I. Hurst Stadium. Co-Lin was ranked 9^th in the latest NJCAA poll.

With the win, the Bears climbed to 1-2 on the season and 1-1 in the MACJC's South Division. Co-Lin dropped to 2-2 and 0-1.

The Bears jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when Rakeem Battle returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and 14:44 still on the clock. Reed James added the first of his four PAT's. A 27-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Shell to Shuntez Smith made the score 14-0 with 9:34 to play in the quarter. James then nailed a 29-yard field goal at the 1:03 mark to make it 17-0 at the end of the first.

The score went to 20-0 with 12:24 to play in the second quarter when James hit a 23-yard field goal. Co-Lin broke into the scoring column with 10:07 left in the half when Diquan Davis hauled in a Daniel Fitzwater pass for a 59-yard touchdown. Greg Nickles added the extra point to make the score 20-7.

Following the ensuing kickoff, the Bears wasted little time in answering with another score of their own. Taking the ball at their own 35-yard line, Shell directed his team to a six-play, 65-drive, capped by his six-yard scoring run with 8:27 before the half to put the Bears up 27-7.

The first-half scoring came to an end with 1:03 on the clock when De' Lance Turner closed out a six-play, 56-yard drive with an eight-yard scoring run. Nickles' PAT gave the Bears a 27-14 lead at the half.

Co-Lin scored the only points of the third quarter when Donald Gray snared a pass from Fitzwater and raced 73 yards to the end zone with 12:59 on the clock. Nickles added to extra point to narrow the Bears' lead to 27-21.

A gutsy call by the Bears helped them extend their lead back to 14 points, 35-21, with 12:59 left in the final quarter. Faced with a fourth and one at the Co-Lin six-yard line, the Bears lined up for an apparent field goal attempt. But holder Clifford Fernandez fooled everyone in attendance by taking the snap and firing a pass into the end zone to Carnell Owens for a touchdown.

The score went to 42-21 with 8:09 to play when Chris Jones scampered three yards to paydirt to cap a seven-play, 55-yard drive. Co-Lin answered on their next possession with a 12-yard Fitzwater to Turner touchdown pass. Nickles added the extra point to make the score 42-28 with 6:06 left in the game.

Picking up their final points of the night, the Bears went up 45-28 when James notched his third field goal of the game from 20 yards out and 4:27 to play. Less than 2:00 later, with 2:33 on the clock, Co-Lin picked up the final points of the game with a Fitzwater-to-Gray 67-yard touchdown pass and Nickles added the PAT.

The Bears totaled 371 yards of offense, led by the workhorse effort of Jones. The sophomore from Tylertown carried the ball 34 times for 142 yards. De'Angelo Ballard toted the ball 14 times for 99 yards. Shell and Dominique Lavalais also carried the ball.

Shell, Ballard and Fernandez combined to complete eight of 22 passes for 119 yards. Shell and Fernandez both had scoring passes while Shell and Ballad were both intercepted once.

Jonathan McNair had two catches for 47 yards while Kelvin Williams had two catches for 18 yards. Smith had a 27-yard touchdown catch with Owens pulling in a pass for a six-yard score. Kameron Williams and Roy Bibbs both pulled in one pass.

The Bears recorded 21 first downs in the game and were penalized five times for 35 yards. Brandon Mancuso punted five times for a 38-yard average.

Co-Lin finished the night with 462 offensive yards. Fitzwater led the way, completing 20 of 41 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns. He was picked off once. Gray caught two passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns while Turner carried the ball 12 times for 54 yards and a score.

The visitors from Wesson picked up 12 first downs on the night and were whistled for 97 yards on 10 penalties. Trent Furr punted eight times for a 37.1 yard average.

The Bears remain at home for their next contest, hosting Pearl River on September 25. Game time is set for 7:00.

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Bears maul 9th-ranked Co-Lin