By Shawn Wansley
JCJC Sports Information Director

ELLISVILLE – It is going to be difficult to top last week’s performance by the Jones County Junior College Bobcats.

The Bobcats went into Poplarville on Oct. 1 and shocked the 10th-ranked Pearl River Community College Wildcats, 27-10. The victory was the fourth straight for JCJC and leaves the Bobcats in first place in the MACJC South Division with a 4-0 mark.

But there is still plenty of work to be done for the Bobcats to assure themselves of a playoff berth as they head into another critical South Division game on Saturday at Southwest Mississippi Community College.

“Everything is still on front of our team,” said JCJC head coach Eddie Pierce Tuesday afternoon in the Bobcat Fieldhouse. “We have talked about the opportunities we have before us.

“We just have to get ready and go play.”

JCJC leads the division with a 4-0 mark, while Mississippi Gulf Coast is 3-0. Southwest is 2-2, followed by Pearl River and Co-Lin each at 1-2.

The Bears are still alive in the playoff chase, but they know they have to beat Jones this weekend and Pearl River on Oct. 17 in Poplarville.

It will be Homecoming on Saturday afternoon at Summit and Pierce is expecting to receive Southwest’s best effort.

“Southwest will be a good, good football team,” said Pierce. “They are athletic and they will be ready to play. They are in a ‘do or die’ situation. We have got to get focused and get ready to go play again.”

The Bears, 3-3 overall, have a modest, two-game winning streak of their own. They beat Delta (13-12) to open the season and have knocked off East Central (21-20) and Hinds (35-19) in the last two weeks. SMCC has losses to Coahoma (34-21), Gulf Coast (33-16) and Co-Lin (15-3).

“On offense, Southwest is mostly one-back,” said Pierce. “They are a spread team and do a little of everything with one-back, four receivers, trips and empty. They will run a little two-back. Defensively, they are very aggressive and really come after you. They are a solid, well-coached team.”

The Bears only average 94.3 yards per game on the ground and 242.3 yards per game of total offense. On defense, they allow 327.8 yards per game. However, Southwest leads the state in turnover margin with a +10.

Quarterback Stanley Jennings throws for 139.3 yards per game. Cornerback J.D. Ratliff leads the state in interceptions with seven and ranks fifth in punt returns with a 6.1 yards per return average. Mychal Bailey is second in the state in kickoff returns with a 28.3 yards per return average.

Pierce is also a bit concerned about his team’s health going into the game.

“We are battling the flu a little bit,” he said. “I’ve kind of been waiting on that to happen, too.”

In last week’s game, the Bobcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Jacob Chancellor booted a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter.

The Bobcats took a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter when quarterback Brian Robinson hit wide receiver Anthony Jackson for a 57-yard touchdown pass. A Pearl River defender appeared to intercept the ball around his own 25-yard line when Jackson took the ball away from the defensive back and ran into the end zone for the score.

With the game tied at 10-10 early in the third quarter, the Wildcats were poised to take the lead with a first and goal at the Jones’ 7. But Bobcat cornerback DeAntrae McInnis came up with an interception and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown.

The Bobcat went up 20-10 on the final play of the third quarter when Chancellor kicked a 36-yard field goal and they sealed it when Justin Gaines scored on a 4-yard run with 6:25 left in the game.

On defense, safety Ramon Blakeney had nine solo tackles and six assists, while Marcus Pierce had six solos, three assists and an interception. McInnis ended the game with five solos, two assists and two interceptions. The Bobcats had five sacks in the game, including 2 ½ by Tyrunn Walker, 1 ½ by Jo’nal White and one by Ryan Robinson.

Coach Pierce praised his team and coaching staff for the complete game victory.

“They played well on both sides of the ball,” he said. “Our defense really had to step it up and make some stops and they did. I’m proud of the team and our coaches. The coaches did a super job of getting them ready to play.

“Our kids went in there and they were ready to play from the start. They were focused and just did a super job.”

With just three regular season games remaining, the Bobcats are in prime position to achieve postseason play. But they still have some unfinished business.

“This is where we wanted to be when we started,” said Pierce. “We are here and we just have to keep it going.”

Saturday’s game kicks off at 3 p.m. at John I. Hurst Stadium. Fans can listen to the game at www.jcjc.tv or on WGDQ-FM, 93.1, with Lance Pittman doing play-by-play and Mark Easley providing color commentary. The pregame show begins at 2:30 p.m.

JCJC steps out of division play next week when they host Delta for Homecoming. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.

MACJC STANDINGS
South Division
Division Overall
W L W L
Jones 4 0 4 2
Gulf Coast 3 0 5 1
Southwest 2 2 3 3
Pearl River 1 2 4 2
Copiah-Lincoln 1 2 3 3
Hinds 1 3 2 4
East Central 0 3 2 4

North Division
Division Overall
W L W L
East Mississippi 3 0 5 1
Northwest 2 1 4 2
Northeast 2 1 2 4
Mississippi Delta 2 2 2 4
Coahoma 1 2 3 3
Itawamba 1 3 2 4
Holmes 1 3 1 5

Thursday, October 8
Coahoma at Northwest, 6:30 p.m.
Gulf Coast at East Central, 6:30 p.m.
Itawamba at Hinds, 7 p.m.
Holmes at Mississippi Delta, 7 p.m.
Saturday, October 10
Jones at Southwest, 3 p.m.
Pearl River at Co-Lin, 5 p.m.
Northeast at East Mississippi, 2 p.m.

MACJC STATISTICS
(Through Week 6)
- Jones is averaging 23 points per game on offense and allows 15.3 points per game on defense.
- Jones is seventh in rushing offense (154.6 ypg), 11th in passing offense (116.8 ypg) and 10th in total offense (271.5 ypg).
- Jones is third in rushing defense (109.5 ypg), 11th in passing defense (192.2 ypg) and fifth in total defense (301.7 ypg).
- Jones is eighth in turnover margin (-1).
- JCJC’s Bubba Brown is tied for third in (non-kicking) scoring (48 points) and is fourth in rushing (89.1 ypg).
- JCJC’s Brian Robinson is 11th in passing offense (90.0 ypg) and 10th in passing efficiency (117.3).
- JCJC’s Jacob Chancellor is third in scoring (kickers) with 34 points and is seventh in punting (35.4 ypp).
- JCJC’s Chris Lofton is fifth in punt returns (8.8 ypr).
- JCJC’s Anthony Jackson is 11th in kickoff returns (22.8 ypr).
- JCJC’s Ryan Robinson is tied for sixth in sacks (6).
- JCJC’s D.A. Autry is fourth in tackles (41 solos, 21 assists), Ramon Blakeney is 17th (31 solos, 16 assists) and Marcus Pierce is 25th (28 solos, 11 assists).