ELLISVILLE – It will be a midseason MACJC South Division showdown Thursday night in Perkinston.
The Jones County Junior College Bobcats and 11^th-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs will collide at 7 p.m. at A.L. May Stadium. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv and WLAU-FM, 99.3.
Both teams enter the contest with 2-0 division records, while top-ranked Copiah-Lincoln is at 1-0.
JCJC head coach David Thornton knows the importance of the game.
"It's huge," he said. "This will put somebody in the driver's seat in the South. In the South, everybody is tough and a lot of teams are playing well. You need every win you can get.
"Gulf Coast is very good and we will have to play really well to have an opportunity to be in the game with them."
The Bobcats are 2-2 overall, but have posted consecutive division wins over Southwest Mississippi (27-14) and Pearl River (34-6).
MGCCC has beaten Northeast Mississippi (40-23), East Central (30-14) and Hinds (38-27). Their lone loss was to undefeated Northwest (26-10). They rallied for two touchdowns in the final minute to beat the Eagles in Raymond last week.
"Hinds turned it over three times, I believe, and that helped Gulf Coast out," Thornton said. "Hinds has a really good team, too. Gulf Coast took advantage of those turnovers and won the game."
The Bobcats, meanwhile, are coming off a solid thrashing of Pearl River.
JCJC only led 7-6 at halftime, but turned it up several notches in the second half. The Bobcats got a pair of defensive scores and limited PRCC to no points and four first downs in the final 30 minutes of play.
Thornton said the coaches had a chat with the Bobcats at halftime.
"We came in at halftime and talked about how we weren't playing to our capabilities," he said. "We weren't playing well in anything late in the second quarter. We got their attention and came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter."
JCJC took the opening kickoff of the game, drove 72 yards in 15 plays and got a 1-yard touchdown run from DeSherrius Flowers to start the game.
PRCC moved the ball in the first half, got a touchdown, but missed a pair of field goal attempts and an extra point.
"We started out well offensively with a good drive and got a touchdown, which was a positive," Thornton said. "I think that was the first time we've done that all year. Then we had a few injuries and it kind of slowed us down a bit. We kind of hit a lull.
"In the first half, Pearl River was moving the ball and had some missed field goals. But when they got close to our end zone, our defense held firm and fast and we were able to hold them to field goal attempts and fortunately, they missed."
In the third quarter, the Bobcats took a 14-6 lead when Tevin Moore scored on a 6-yard run on a fourth and 1.
On the ensuing kickoff, Anthony Martin forced a fumble and Eric Barnes recovered and ran it in for a 17-yard touchdown to give JCJC a 21-6 lead.
"We got the drive for the score to start the second half and then we got the turnover on special teams," Thornton said. "The momentum was starting to swing at that point, but that was really a huge play by Eric. We kind of had control from there the rest of the way."
The Bobcats then took a 27-6 lead when Moore scored on a 1-yard run late in the third quarter.
Barnes then punctuated the game with a 50-yard interception return with just over six minutes left to play.
Barnes, a freshman from Seminary, was named the MACJC Defensive Player of the Week for his effort against the Wildcats. Thornton said it was a well-deserved honor.
"Eric had the fumble recovery with the 'scoop and score' and the 'pick six' was nice and sealed it," he said. "Eric is a freshman and has been coming on every week. He has worked hard and done very well."
Another major factor in the game was the punting of Patrick Ponder.
Ponder, a sophomore from Bay, averaged 48.4 yards per kick on seven punts, including a 65-yard effort. For the season, he is averaging 43.4 yards per punt, which leads the MACJC and ranks third in the NJCAA.
"Patrick had a great game," Thornton said. "He flipped the field for us so many times and did a great job of pinning them deep. He's had a great year. That's good to see."
Overall, Thornton was pleased with the play of the Bobcats, especially the defense in the second half.
"They came out and got aggressive with them and did a great job," Thornton said. "We shut them down in the second half and that's when we really began firing on all cylinders. We played much better on defense and did a better job of getting off the field on third down attempts. I think everybody started playing well and we kind of fed off each other. That's what you like to see.
"Typically, a game is like a heavyweight fight – back and forth and back and forth. But we took over the game in the second half. I'm proud of the way we played in the second half."
Jarkice Davis led the Bobcats with 54 yards rushing.
Defensively, Ty Hill had another solid game with nine tackles. The Brookhaven sophomore leads the state and is seventh in the NJCAA with 47 stops. Bay Springs' Javien Hamilton – making his first start at cornerback – also had nine tackles. Hazlehurst's Johnkil Skipper had an interception at defensive tackle, while Markel Winters of Jacksonville, Florida, recorded a sack.
But now the Bobcats have to turn their attention to Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The Bulldogs are led on offense by quarterback A.J. Erdely, running back Chris Robinson and wide receiver Ishmel Morrow.
Erdely, a Middle Tennessee State transfer, is 48-of-84 through the air for 544 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Robinson is fifth in the state in rushing with an average of 68.8 yards per game and has scored five touchdowns. Morrow is third in the state with 19 receptions for 285 yards and two scores.
On defense, the Bulldogs look to linebackers Reggio Dean and James Graves, along with end Isiah Buggs.
"They are very talented offensively with some great skill guys and a huge offensive line," Thornton said of the Bulldogs. "It's kind of the same defensively. They have a big, aggressive defensive line and they are solid in special teams.
"We will have to play well in all three phases to beat them."
Another big factor in the past two weeks is that the Bobcats have turned the ball only one time, while forcing five turnovers. They have turned three of those five turnovers into touchdowns.
"We work on ball security every day and there is a reason for that," Thornton said. "It's the number one stat – besides the final score – that determines who wins and who loses. Turnovers are huge.
"That's what we preach. We want to play disciplined football, protect the football, move the sticks and have some big plays. Of course, we want to do the opposite on defense – force turnovers, get off the field on third downs and prevent big plays.
"We talk about those things all the time and that's what you have to do to win."
The Bobcats step out of division play next week when they host No. 6 East Mississippi at 7 p.m. on Oct. 1 at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
Mississippi Gulf Coast visits Southwest next week.
 

MACJC statistics

- JCJC is 10^th in total offense (314.8 ypg) and Mississippi Gulf Coast is ninth (319.3 ypg).
- JCJC is fifth in total defense (294.5 ypg) and Mississippi Gulf Coast is seventh (324.0 ypg).
- JCJC is sixth in scoring offense (25.3 ppg) and Mississippi Gulf Coast is fifth (29.5 ppg).
- JCJC is fifth in scoring defense (20.8 ppg) and Mississippi Gulf Coast is seventh (22.5 ppg).
- JCJC's Jarkice Davis is 11^th in rushing (61.8 ypg) and DeSherrius Flowers is 12^th (58.3 ypg). MGCCC's Chris Robinson is fifth (68.8 ypg).
- JCJC's Thad Miller is seventh in passing with 70-of-121 with three interceptions (158.0 ypg). MGCCC's A.J. Erdely is 11^th with 48-of-84 with four touchdowns (136.0 ypg) and two interceptions.
- JCJC's Carlos Burse is eighth in receiving with 16 catches for 199 yards (49.8 ypg). MGCCC's Ishmel Morrow is third with 19 catches for 285 yards and two touchdowns (71.3 ypg).
- JCJC's Ty Hill leads the state and is seventh in the nation in tackles with 47 (11.8 per game). JCJC's Jaylon Lane is tied for ninth with 30 (7.5 per game). MGCCC's Reggio Dean is tied for ninth with 30 (7.5 per game).
- JCJC's Patrick Ponder is first in the MACJC and third in the NJCAA in punting (43.2 ypp). MGCCC's Tyler Flathau is 10^th in the MACJC (37.0 ypp).
- JCJC's Tevin Moore is third in scoring (non-kickers) with 30 points.
- JCJC's Michael Godley is fifth in scoring (kickers) with 26 points. MGCCC's Joshua Rowland is first in the state and third in the NJCAA with 40 points.
 

MACJC standings

SOUTH DIVISION
                                                Division                                 Overall
                                                W        L                                  W        L
Miss. Gulf Coast                     2          0                                  3          1
Jones County                         2          0                                  2          2
Copiah-Lincoln                      1          0                                  4          0
Hinds                                      1          1                                  3          1
East Central                           0          1                                  3          1
Pearl River                             0          2                                  1          3
Southwest                              0          2                                  1          3
NORTH DIVISION
                                                Division                                 Overall
                                                W        L                                  W        L
Northwest                              2          0                                  4          0
East Mississippi                     2          0                                  3          1
Miss. Delta                              1          0                                  1          3
Itawamba                               1          1                                  2          2
Holmes                                   0          1                                  1          3
Coahoma                                0          2                                  0          4         
Northeast                               0          2                                  0          4
 
 
Thursday's games
Hinds at Northwest, 6:30 p.m.
Copiah-Lincoln at East Central, 6:30 p.m.
Jones County at Miss. Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.
Southwest at Pearl River, 7 p.m.
Holmes at Mississippi Delta, 7 p.m.
Northeast at Coahoma, 7 p.m.
Saturday's game
Itawamba at East Mississippi, 2 p.m.