ELLISVILLE – The Jones County Junior College Bobcats control their own destiny when it comes to postseason play.
JCJC is 2-4 overall, but the Bobcats are in sole possession of second place in the MACJC South Division with a 2-1 mark heading into this weekend's Homecoming contest vs. East Central.
"I think that's the key," said JCJC head coach
David Thornton. "You have to look down the road and see what we can still accomplish. The playoffs are very reachable. We have three South Division games remaining and who knows what could happen?"
Saturday's game begins at 2 p.m. and will air on
www.jcjc.tv. There will be no local radio broadcast this week.
On Thursday, No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast clinched the top spot in the South Division with a 41-10 victory over Pearl River. Hinds upset No. 9 Copiah-Lincoln, 33-26.
MGCCC leads the division at 5-0, while JCJC is 2-1. Hinds and Co-Lin are each 2-2 and East Central is 1-2.
"East Central, Hinds and Co-Lin are all in the picture and we play all of those teams," Thornton said. "We have a shot and as long as we keep playing hard and taking care of the football, there is no telling what could happen."
The Warriors will bring a confident team to Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
East Central beat Hinds 28-19 last week. They also own wins over Mississippi Delta (34-0), Coahoma (46-13) and Holmes (29-14).
They have lost to Mississippi Gulf Coast (30-14) and Copiah-Lincoln (31-28).
"East Central has good players on both sides of the ball," Thornton said. "They have some good out-of-state and in-state players. Defensively, their line has a lot of size to it. They have some players who run around well on defense."
On offense, the Warriors are led by quarterback Jesse Hosket, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound sophomore from French Camp, running back Tredarian Gamble, a 6-foot-1, 192-pound freshman from Lincoln, Alabama, and wide receiver Kabion Ento, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound sophomore from Little Rock, Arkansas.
On defense, linebacker Eric McPherson, a 5-foot-11, 221-pound sophomore from Jackson Jim Hill, and end Jerry Magee, a 5-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore from Collins, are their top tacklers.
"Offensively, they have some weapons at the receiver positions and their running back is a good, solid player," Thornton said. "Their quarterback is a big kid who has done really for them. I can see why they are 4-2. They are a very, very well-coached team. They don't make mistakes and that's why they are doing as well as they have done.
"They do a great job of taking care of the football and that's another one of those characteristics of a well-coached team. They don't turn it over very much."
East Central is led by head coach Ken Karcher, who played quarterback collegiately at Notre Dame and Tulane and in the NFL with the Denver Broncos.
The Bobcats are coming off a 49-7 loss to No. 6 East Mississippi.
Thornton said the Bobcats played that game the way they practiced during the week.
"We typically practice well," he said. "But last week, we did not and we talked about that as a team. There is a reason that you lose games like that the way we did. We did not have a good week of practice and we were not very focused on everything."
Thornton said workouts this week have been much better.
"We have had a good week of practice," he said. "We just did not do as well as we should last week and we have talked about it. It goes back to the old saying that you play like you practice. There is no magic switch you flip."
There were not many bright spots in the loss to East Mississippi, but linebacker
Ty Hill had another double-digit game in tackles with 10. Linebacker
Cannon Gibbs came off the bench to record nine stops and
Ramon Patton, who has moved into a starting role in the secondary, also had nine tackles.
"Ty has earned everything he has gotten," Thornton said of the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Brookhaven sophomore. "The reason he is playing well is because he has worked so hard in the offseason. He does an outstanding job. He is a great character kid with a great attitude. He has been one of our most consistent performers defensively this year.
"Cannon (6-2, 215 sophomore from Northwest Rankin) is a guy who is a really good athlete. He is very physical, a good-sized kid and moves well. We are expecting good things out of him the rest of this year and down the road. Ramon (6-0, 215 freshman from Pascagoula) just gets better every week. He is another physical player who moves well to the ball."
The Bobcats know what is at stake this week. A win would keep them in sole possession of second place with two games left in the season.
"It's a big game," Thornton said. "It's Homecoming for us and hopefully, we will rise to the occasion. We should have a good atmosphere here and I think our guys will play well."
JCJC travels to Hinds for a 7 p.m. game on Oct. 15.
East Central hosts Southwest on Oct. 17.
MACJC statistics
- JCJC is ninth in total offense (318.2 ypg) and East Central is seventh (399.2 ypg).
- JCJC is eighth in total defense (357.0 ypg) and East Central is fourth (300.7 ypg).
- JCJC is eighth in scoring offense (22.5 ppg) and East Central is sixth (29.8 ppg).
- JCJC is eighth in scoring defense (28.2 ppg) and East Central is second in the MACJC and 14th in the NJCAA (17.8 ppg).
- JCJC's
Jarkice Davis is 21st in rushing (42.8 ypg) and
DeSherrius Flowers is 22
nd (41.8 ypg). East Central's Tredarian Gamble is fourth (78.8).
- JCJC's
Thad Miller is fifth in passing in the MACJC and 20
th in the NJCAA with 114-of-199 with six interceptions and three touchdowns for 1,168 yards (194.7 ypg). East Central's Jesse Hosket is sixth in the MACJC with 78-of-127 with 12 touchdowns and one interception for 1,076 yards (179.3 ypg).
- JCJC's
Carlos Burse is third in receiving with 33 catches for 396 yards (66.0 ypg) and two touchdowns. East Central's Kabion Ento is seventh with 25 catches for 457 yards (76.2 ypg) and six touchdowns.
- JCJC's
Ty Hill leads the state and is fifth in the nation in tackles with 69 (11.5 per game). JCJC's
Jaylon Lane is 13th with 42 (7.0 per game). East Central's Eric McPherson is second in the state and 14th in the nation with 58 tackles (9.7 per game) and Jerry Magee is seventh in the MACJC with 47 tackles (7.8 per game).
- JCJC's
Patrick Ponder is first in the MACJC and fourth in the NJCAA in punting (42.8 ypp). East Central's Aaron Garrett is 14
th in the MACJC (35.9 ypp).
- JCJC's
Tevin Moore is tied for fourth in scoring (non-kickers) with 36 points. East Central's Ento is tied for fourth with 36 points.
- JCJC's
Michael Godley is ninth in scoring (kickers) with 30 points. East Central's Garrett is seventh with 33 points.
MACJC standings
SOUTH DIVISION Division Overall W L W L*Miss. Gulf Coast 5 0 6 1
Jones County 2 1 2 4
Hinds 2 2 4 3
Copiah-Lincoln 2 2 5 2
East Central 1 2 4 2
Southwest 1 3 2 4
Pearl River 1 4 2 5
NORTH DIVISION Division Overall W L W LEast Mississippi 4 0 6 1
Northwest 3 0 6 0
Miss. Delta 2 1 2 4
Itawamba 3 2 4 3
Holmes 1 3 2 5
Northeast 1 4 1 6
Coahoma 0 4 0 6
*-denotes clinched division title
Thursday's resultsItawamba 52, Northeast 14
East Mississippi 44, Holmes 28
Mississippi Gulf Coast 41, Pearl River 10
Hinds 33, Copiah-Lincoln 26
Saturday's gamesEast Central at Jones County, 2 p.m.
Northwest at Mississippi Delta, 2 p.m.
Coahoma at Southwest, 5 p.m.
