ELLISVILLE – East Central Community College scored a pair of second quarter touchdowns and made them stand up as they defeated Jones County Junior College 14-6 here Saturday afternoon during Homecoming at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
The loss drops the Bobcats to 2-5 overall, 2-2 in the MACJC South Division. East Central is now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in division play.
The Bobcats played without regular starting quarterback Thad Miller, who was injured and did not dress out.
JCJC ended the game with 12 first downs and 190 yards of total offense.
A bright spot for the Bobcats was the punting of Patrick Ponder. The state's leading punter averaged 46.6 yards per punt on eight kicks, including a whopping, 82-yarder into the end zone for a touchback in the fourth quarter. He also had a 66-yard punt.
East Central had 18 first downs and 291 yards of total offense. Running back Tredarian Gamble had 30 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown, but lost two fumbles. ECCC quarterback Jesse Hosket was 15-of-19 through the air for 95 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, Jahmaad Harrell led the Bobcats with 11 tackles and Ty Hill added 10. Eric Barnes had nine tackles, three forced fumbles and one tackle for loss. Jamal Blackwell had nine tackles and one tackle for loss. Al'Dreecous Wilson had seven tackles and a fumble recovery, while Javarious Tanner had six tackles and a quarterback sack. Markel Winters had three tackles, one fumble recovery and one tackle for loss. Ramon Patton had six tackles.
On its first possession, East Central drove from its own 22-yard line to the JCJC 6 in 14 plays. But on the final play of the possession, Gamble fumbled and JCJC's Al'Dreecous Wilson recovered at the 3-yard line.
The Bobcats then moved out to their own 44 before the drive stalled and Ponder punted.
East Central took over on its own 28 and drove to the Bobcat 23 where they faced a third and 13.
On the first play of the second quarter, Hosket connected with Jordan Thomas over the middle on a 23-yard touchdown pass. Aaron Garrett's extra point gave the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 14:54 left in the first half.
The Bobcats then took over on their own 46 after the Warrior kickoff went out of bounds at the JCJC 41.
JCJC would then face a fourth and 1 at the Warrior 45, but would come up short on a running play.
On its next possession, JCJC quarterback Kelvin Bourrage was picked off by East Central's Austin Balthazor at the Bobcat 48. He returned it to the JCJC 28.
Four plays later, Gamble scored on a 2-yard run and Garrett's extra point gave the Warriors a 14-0 lead with 7:35 left in the first half.
Early in the second half, East Central began a drive at the Bobcat 43 following a punt into the wind.
Seven plays later, the Warriors went for it on fourth and 3 at the JCJC 12, but Savon Robinson was dropped by Bobcat defenders Eric Barnes and Johnkil Skipper for a 4-yard loss.
Three possessions later, the Bobcats put together their best drive of the day.
JCJC marched 81 yards in 17 plays and took almost eight minutes off the clock. The touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Tevin Moore. However, the extra point attempt was off to the right and the Warriors led 14-6 with 11:37 remaining in the game.
The Bobcats forced an East Central punt and got the ball back with 6:54 left at their own 17. However, the Warriors forced a '3 and out' and Ponder came through with his 82-yard boomer into the opposite end zone.
The Warriors took over at their own 20 with 4:36 left and moved for a pair of first downs just over midfield into JCJC territory.
However, Gamble would fumble on a third and 3 carry and JCJC's Markel Winters recovered at his own 44 with 1:36 left in the game.
The Bobcats had no timeouts, but moved quickly to a first down at the ECCC 43.
After two incomplete passes, Bourrage had an open DeSherrius Flowers deep down the middle of the field, but could not connect. On fourth and 10, Bourrage was forced to scramble and gained only six yards.
East Central took over with 50.4 seconds left, took a knee twice and the game was over.
The Bobcats will now travel to Raymond to face Hinds Community College at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv and WLAU-FM, 99.3.
East Central hosts Southwest at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 17.
 
 
East Central 14, Jones County 6
Saturday, October 10
Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field
Ellisville
 
East Central (5-2, 2-2)        0 14 0 0  – 14
Jones County (2-5, 2-2)      0   0  0  6 ­– 6
 
Scoring summary
2^nd  quarter – ECCC, Jordan Thomas 23-yard pass from Jesse Hosket, 14:54. Aaron Garrett PAT. ECCC 7-0
2^nd quarter – ECCC, Tredarian Gamble 2-yard run, 7:35. Garrett PAT. ECCC 14-0.
4^th quarter – JCJC, Tevin Moore, 1-yard run, 11:32. PAT failed. ECCC 14-6.
 
East Central                                                  Jones County
18                               FD                               12
55-196                       Rushes-Yards              47-119
15-19-0                      Comp-Att-Int                10-22-1
95                               Passing Yards             71
291                             Total Offense              190
8-39                            Penalties-Yards          6-50
7-34.5                         Punts-Ave.                  8-49.1
5-2                              Fumbles-Lost              1-0
 
JCJC statistics
Rushing
JCJC – Kelvin Bourrage 20-42; DeSherrius Flowers 9-33; Jarkice Davis 12-33; Stephen Cowan 4-9; Tevin Moore 2-2.
 
Passing
JCJC – Kelvin Bourrage 10-22-1 for 71
 
Receiving
JCJC– Logan Scott 3-27; Carlos Burse 2-7; Tevin Moore 1-10; Barry Gibson 1-9; DeSherrius Flowers 1-8; Nick Shields 1-8; Jarkice Davis 1-2.