No. 5 Bobcats visit Southwest for Saturday Homecoming matchup
By Shawn Wansley, Jones SID
ELLISVILLE – Fifth-ranked Jones College had to change its practice routine this week.
That's because the Bobcats will be playing their first Saturday game of the season when they travel to Southwest for a 5 p.m. kickoff. The game will air on jcbobcats.com/watch (JCJC-TV) with Mark Easley and Luke Johnson on the call. The game will not be on WLAU-FM, 99.3.
Bobcat head football coach Steve Buckley said he told his team last week about the upcoming different schedule.
"We started preparing for it last week," he said. "Our schedule is totally different this week. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a Monday for us, Thursday will be a Tuesday for us and Friday will be a Wednesday for us. We've warned the kids of it and told them to not let it be a distraction. We spent time catching up academically and having more meetings on Monday and Tuesday.
"We've been getting prepared mentally and will go out Thursday and get prepared physically."
Jones enters the game at 5-1 overall and in sole possession of first place in the MACCC South Division at 4-0. The Bears are 1-5, 0-4 and have lost five straight contests.
Southwest opened the season with a win over Mississippi Delta (51-6), but has since lost to Coahoma (37-32), No. 8 Mississippi Gulf Coast (55-33), No. 10 Copiah-Lincoln (29-21), East Central (48-15) and Hinds (34-28 in overtime). The Bears trailed 28-7 in the second half at Hinds before rallying to force overtime.
Buckley noted the Bears have scored a lot of points and said quarterback Amarien Jefferson can cause problems. Jefferson, a 6-foot, 180-pound freshman from Parklane Academy, has completed 61-of-116 passes for 670 yards and three touchdowns and rushed 44 times for 263 yards and three scores.
"Defensively, we have a tremendous challenge," he said. "They are averaging like 30 points a game. We have got to be ready to play. Their quarterback is dynamic and can make plays with his legs and his arm."
Buckley said the Bobcats can't take the Bears lightly despite their record.
"It's their Homecoming," he said. "They will be ready to play. They are a well-coached football team. They have athletes that are really good looking. They have a good looking football team on film with a lot of length."
In the Bobcats' 29-15 win last week at Pearl River, Buckley noted several bright spots, especially the play of freshman quarterback Brax Garrison (Tuscaloosa, Alabama). Garrison completed 15-of-21 passes for 142 yards.
"Offensively, we did some really good things," he said. "I thought Brax had his best game. He managed the game very well and made plays. For the most part, we took care of the ball."
Running back Trent Davis (Attalla, Alabama) had 16 carries for a career-best 148 yards.
On defense, linebacker Raymond Collins (Harrison Central) had four tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and returned a blocked extra point for two points. He was named the MACCC Defensive Player of the Week. Jones allowed only 219 yards of offense with 99 of those yards coming on PRCC's final drive of the game.
"We say this every time you go on the road, but when you go on the road in this league and get a win you've got to feel good about yourself," Buckley said. "We did that. The defense played lights out again and It was a team effort."
Punter Bart Edmiston Jr. (Ocean Springs) had another solid game, punting three times for a 50.3-yard average with all three going inside the 20-yard line. He leads the NJCAA in punting with a 47.3-yard average. He was 3-for-3 on extra points and made field goals of 43 and 41 yards.
However, the Bobcats allowed a blocked punt that went through the end zone for a safety.
Buckley said the Bobcats have corrected that.
"We got overpowered at the guard position and you can't let that happen," he said. "They went to their 'safe' punt look and brought a heavy rush with a big guy inside and we didn't hunker down enough at our guard position and they got it. Give them credit on that. But we got that fixed and we've got to continue to improve that part."
The Bobcats will step out of division play for their next game when they host Mississippi Delta at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 for Homecoming.
Southwest visits Pearl River on Oct. 26.