From staff reports

Hinds Community College has once again become a hot shopping spot for four-year schools.

Hinds sent seven players, including three from Vicksburg, on to senior colleges this week. Among the players moving on were former Vicksburg High stars Dekores Branch, Vernon Wolfe and Mark Cabatay.

Wolfe, a wide receiver, was the only one of the seven Hinds signees to sign with a Football Bowl Subdivision school. He is headed to Louisiana-Lafayette after leading Hinds with 33 catches for 395 yards in 2008.

A team suspension and injuries limited Wolfe to only five games. He signed with Louisiana-Lafayette during the early signing period in the fall and has already enrolled for the spring semester.

Branch took the same path to the University of West Georgia. Both he and defensive linemate Darryl Barnes, a former Clinton standout, enrolled at West Georgia in January and will be able to participate in spring practice.

Branch, a 6-foot-4, 265-pounder who earned the Vicksburg Post’s Defensive Player of the Year at VHS in 2006, had 21 solo tackles, one assist, one fumble recovery and one sack for Hinds in 2008. Branch had 17 solo tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery last season.

Cabatay transferred to Hinds before the 2008 season from Jones County Junior College and was able to provide strength to the Eagles offensive line with his 6-foot-3, 315-pound frame. He signed with Miles College, a Division II school in Fairfield, Ala.

The other Hinds players moving on are defensive linemen Paul Mallard and Dishon Robertson (Shaw University); and offensive lineman Terrance Taylor (Mississippi Valley State).