COPIAH-LINCOLN

WOLVES

HOPE TO BE ON THE FIELD MORE IN 2021

HEAD COACH: Glenn Davis entering 18th season (91-65) WOLVES COACHING STAFF: Williams Jones, Calvin Green, Maurice Williams, Micah Davis, Jason Guthrie, Robert McFarland

2-1 IN 2020 W — @ Southwest MS 41-3 W — vs. Pearl River 27-24 L — vs. East Central 13-10 OT

Copiah-Lincoln head football coach Glenn Davis and his staff are preparing for a full slate of MACCC football in 2021 after only playing three games last season.

The Wolves finished 2-1, but ongoing issues due to COVID-19 forced the school to cancel the rest of what was supposed to be a six-game schedule.

The usual cycle for Co-Lin and their community college brethren is to keep their players on campus working out and acquiring credits during summer school.

After the season in the fall, they’ll then graduate the bulk of their sophomores and have those players signing with new schools in order to enroll in the spring at a four-year program.

The shortened 2020 season gave those sophomores less opportunities to show what they were capable of on the field.

It was frustrating for Davis to see his guys stuck in limbo as the NCAA allowing players to transfer without losing a year of eligibility caused more uncertainty in the recruiting world.

“I just hated it for our kids,” said Davis. “They put in the work and deserve to showcase that on the field, but we couldn’t really do that last year. We’ve got several that are fully vaccinated and we’re hoping that this year will be one with a full season of games.”

One silver lining is that the sophomores from last season could return to Wesson and wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility.

Several difference makers for CLCC made the choice to do just that including offensive lineman Jalen Armstrong, quarterback Paul Hargrave, wideout Erick Rodgers, linebacker Jalen Campbell, kicker/punter Bryce Lofton and defensive lineman Lamarcus Faulkner.

Hargrave redshirted his first season in Wesson before becoming the starting QB last season. A product of Natchez High, he’s a threat to both run and pass the ball. Germantown High product Colton Gardner will also compete for playing time at quarterback as a freshman.

Lining up in the backfield will be another valuable third year returnee, running back Drexlan Allen. The 5-foot-9 Allen is a shifty runner out of Hattiesburg High who’s run for a combined 500 yards thus far in his career.

Armstrong is an athletic, physical lineman out of Calhoun City who had offers and could have left Wesson but chose to return in hopes of improving the number and quality of his future opportunities.

In the spring while discussing signing day, Davis said that he’d not hold back any sophomores who wanted to move on.

“We had a defensive player that was telling us he was going to come back, and he would have been a really good third year sophomore,” said Davis at the time. “He got an offer from a Division I program though, and our coaches let him know that the school recruiting

WOLVES PLAYING AT THE NEXT LEVEL

John Allen Southeastern Louisiana Jalen Bedell

Central Arkansas Jalen Bell Southeastern Louisiana Swayze Bozeman Southern Miss Ke’Shawn Brinkley Jackson State Bo Brooks Mississippi State Natrone Brooks Southern Miss Dawson Brown UAB Xavier Curry Bluefield State Deion Dampier

Delta State Jordan Davis Mississippi State Sebastien Dolcine Florida Atlantic Demarcus Gordon Louisiana Tech Malik Heath

Mississippi State Lawilliam Holmes Southeastern Missouri RJ Jarrett Delta State JJ Jernighan Mississippi State Jay Jimison

him was a good fit. We’d have loved to have had him back, but some of those opportunities won’t come back around so you’ve got to take them.”

Crystal Spring alum Malik Jones arrived in Wesson last season as a wide receiver transfer from Northwest Mississippi C.C. He’ll make the move to defensive back for defensive coordinator William Jones.

With Rogers returning alongside receivers Dontavious Turner of South Pike and Tyqun Henderson of Canton High — that position group should be one of the deepest on the team as a a strong group of freshmen have also joined their ranks. Dartravien “Pop” Girod is another returning wide receiver out of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana that should be a contributor after making one catch last season.

The offensive line will once again be under the direction of Robert McFarland in 2021. McFarland returns to the school after spending the previous six seasons as offensive line coach at Louisiana Tech.

Prior to that he was on the staff at Co-Lin for three years, including the 2012 state championship team.

The Wolves will play the most challenging schedule in the MACCC as their three cross-over games with north division schools are loaded with heavyweights.

“The top half of the north division is always going to be Northwest, East Mississippi and Itawamba,” said Davis. “And we’ve got to play all three of them. We’re going to start off with a trip to Northwest and then head to Itawamba the next week. We’ll know where we stand real quick.”

Members of the 2021-2022 Copiah-Lincoln cheer team include, front row, from left, coach Micah Allen, Sydnie

Thurman, Alyssa Carraway, Gabriella

Hegwood, Lydia Ellis, Anna Hedgepeth, Abbie Graves, Mary Ellen Brock, Allison

Hendry, Lindsey Norton, Rainie Welch; back row, from left, August Sullivan, Quintaye Bates, Joe Lee Rutland, Brandon McPhail, Collins Waldrop, William

Hodgson, Dustin Prather, Tate Smith,

Samuel Mabile, Drew Meilstrup, bus driver Collins Allen. School mascots are Janie Grace Henning and Turner Owens. Team mascot is Carson Allen (kneeling). CO-LIN CHEER

Mississippi State Jason Judge Delta State TK McLendon Eastern Kentucky Sherman Mitchell Miles College Tavarian McCullum

Alcorn State Travez Moore Arizona State Tristan Moseley Delta State Rico Owens Delta State CJ Rias

South Alabama Antoine Robinson Southern Miss Kaleb Robinson Delta State Hunter Sims UL-Lafayette Braxton Spells Alcorn State Demetrius Swilley Delta State Shaun’Tavis Vardaman UAB Jalen Ware Temple University Tyrus Wheat Mississippi State Quinn Whitlock

North Texas

Kobe Wren

Alcorn State

Trent Tyre

South Alabama

GRIDIRON 2021 17