ELLISVILLE – Jones County Junior College has little time to prepare for its first road trip of the season.
After dropping a 42-20 home decision to Northwest Mississippi on Saturday, the Bobcats have to travel to Itawamba for a 7 p.m. Thursday contest at Eaton Field in Fulton. The game will be audiocast on www.jcjc.tv and can also be heard on WLAU-FM, 99.3
JCJC head coach David Thornton said the Bobcats would try to use the quick turnaround as a positive point this week.
"The short week can work to your advantage sometimes," he said. "You get right back on the field quickly and you have a chance to go out there and redeem yourself. That's what we are looking to do.
"Itawamba is a similar team to Northwest in terms of offensive and defensive styles. That helps you because there is not a huge learning curve. It's all about execution and making plays. Those are the things we are preaching this week."
The Bobcats did several things well in last week's loss to the 14^th-ranked Rangers.
Linebacker Ty Hill was credited with 16 tackles and cornerback Jaylon Lane had 10 stops. Quarterback Thad Miller threw for 247 yards and running back DeSherrius Flowers rushed for 53 yards. Wide receivers Carlos Burse had five catches for 48 yards and Kyle Oliver had three receptions for 70 yards.
"There were a lot of positives," Thornton said. "We moved the ball well, but we had some turnovers that hurt us. We did not bust a lot of assignments, either."
But a major factor was third down and fourth down defense.
The Rangers were 8-of-14 on third downs and made two crucial fourth down conversions in the second half.
The first fourth down conversion happened with the Rangers leading 21-12 late in the third quarter. Northwest had a fourth and 4 at the Bobcat 31 and hit a 30-yard pass to the JCJC 1-yard line. Quarterback Gardner Minshew sneaked it over two plays later for a touchdown.
After Flowers answered with a 1-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion rush, the Bobcats were down only 28-20 early in the fourth quarter.
Northwest would face a fourth and 6 at the JCJC 27. The Rangers then connected on a 26-yard pass down to the 1-yard line and Minshew scored on the next play.
"We had trouble with some third down conversions that hurt us," Thornton said. "I thought we were about to get back into it when we made it 28-20 after the two-point conversion. But that's when they converted a fourth and long and that hurt. That was a big swing right there because you are on the verge of getting the ball back and all of a sudden, they are on the 1-yard line.
"Defensively, that was one of the big stories of the game. On those money downs, you've got to get off the grass."
Another factor was that the Bobcats had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns early in the game.
Northwest led 7-0 when JCJC put together a 57-yard drive down to the Ranger 2. But on fourth down, Michael Godley came on to boot a 20-yard field goal and get the Bobcats on the scoreboard.
After the Rangers had taken a 14-3 lead, Jones responded with a 46-yard drive to the Northwest 21. On fourth down, Godley kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 14-6 in the second quarter.
"We got down in the red zone a couple of times early and had to take field goals," Thornton said. "You would like to have touchdowns in those situations and that definitely would have helped.
"Plus, whenever we would get something going offensively late, we had some turnovers. Those hurt. One of them was a bad throw and the other one happened when he (Miller) got hit on the throw."
Godley's kicking and Patrick Ponder's punting (44.0 yards on five kicks and two inside the 20) were also positives.
"Special teams were fairly solid, for the most part," Thornton said. "We had one kickoff return where they came out to midfield and we had a PAT blocked. But those things are definitely fixable. A lot of things are fixable.
"We just have to go back to work and fix those problems. Typically, you make your biggest progress as a team from game one to game two. That's our expectations as coaches. We are going to keep working hard, try to get better and do the best we can."
Itawamba will present a team with similar schemes to the Rangers.
On offense, ICC will rely on quarterback Kwadra Griggs, running back Devin Bush and wide receiver Dorian Gaston.
Griggs (6-3, 225, Greenwood) was 18-of-41 for 128 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in last week's 26-14 loss to nationally ranked Co-Lin. Bush (6-0, 200, Jackson, Tennessee) carried 15 times for 54 yards. Gaston (6-1, 195, Ripley) had three receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown last week.
On defense, the Indians are led by linebacker Eric Hunt (5-11, 215, Noxubee County), who had nine tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery last week. Defensive backs Levarious Varnado (5-9, 175, Calhoun City) and Kendarius Hibbler (6-2, 185, Rosa Fort) each had eight stops.
Itawamba led the game 14-10 at halftime before the Wolves rallied in the second half.
"They are a very good team on both sides of the ball," Thornton said of the Indians. "They've got a real good quarterback that's very athletic. He is a very talented guy and we are going to have to do a great job of containing him defensively. They have a lot of good skill guys that surround him.
"Their defense is solid with some good size kids up front and at linebacker. They play a lot of people and do a fine job. It should be a good ballgame and we have to play well to win. But that's what it seems like we say every week."
In addition to playing its South Division opponents, the Bobcats are also playing the perennial top teams in the North Division this season in East Mississippi, Northwest and Itawamba.
"Our schedule is really tough," Thornton said. "You have to play good and hard every week to have a chance. You already play the South Division teams and now we are playing the three North teams that have been in the playoffs the most consistently the last several years. But we knew that coming into the season."
The Bobcats absorbed a tough loss last week. But Thornton is confident they will bounce back and play well on the lengthy road trip.
"We tell our guys it's how you respond to adverse situations is how we do as a team," he said. "There is always going to be something bad that happens to the Bobcats – it 's just how you respond to those situations. I don't think we gave up last week because we were still fighting.
"We, as coaches, work hard to try and get these guys in a position where they make plays. That's all we can do and that's what we are trying to do."
The Bobcats open MACJC South Division play next week when they travel to Southwest Mississippi for a 7 p.m. game on Sept. 10. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv and WLAU-FM, 99.3.
Itawamba begins North Division play next week at Holmes.