ELLISVILLE – The bad news is Jones County Junior College is off to an 0-2 start for the 2015 football season.
The good news is the Bobcats have not played an MACJC South Division contest.
They will open division play at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Southwest Mississippi. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv and WLAU-FM, 99.3.
"That's the good thing about the first two games," said JCJC head coach David Thornton. "They were non-division games, so they don't mean anything as far as the playoffs are concerned. We have talked to the kids about starting fresh. We just will have to go with what we've got and just try to get better every week."
The Bobcats dropped a 42-20 decision to No. 14 Northwest Mississippi in the opener and just fell short in a 21-20 loss at Itawamba last week.
Last week, the Bobcats had their chances late.
Trailing 21-20, JCJC's Al'Dreecous Wilson forced a fumble and Daveon Greene recovered to give the Bobcats the ball at their own 29-yard line.
But JCJC quarterback Thad Miller was picked off by Levarious Varnado at the Bobcat 45.
However, JCJC cornerback Jaylon Lane then intercepted ICC's Kwadra Griggs at his own 10 and returned it to the 29 to give the Bobcats the ball with 4:08 left.
The Bobcats moved the ball to the ICC 44 with just over two minutes left. But an incomplete pass, a sack, a completed pass for negative yardage and another incomplete pass ended JCJC's chances.
Thornton said the Bobcats just did not make enough plays to come out on top, pointing out that Itawamba was 7-of-11 on third down plays.
"We struggled again on third downs," he said. "There were some critical situations where we did not get off the grass and we could have helped ourselves. We did a good job to force the turnovers late to give ourselves a chance to have a game-winning drive. But when we got across the 50, we went backwards. We were just a few yards away from trying the game-winning field goal."
Earlier, Michael Godley had connected on field goals of 30 and 46 yards. Tevin Moore – running out of the 'wild bobcat' formation – scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards.
Godley is 4-for-4 on field goals early in the season. But Thornton said the Bobcats need to do a better job of getting the ball into the end zone.
"Once again, when we got into the red zone, we ended up getting field goals and not touchdowns," Thornton said. "We've got to smell the blood in the water, so to speak, and get it in the end zone, instead of settling for field goals.
"Michael has done really well and we have confidence in him. But you would rather have the touchdowns than the field goals."
In the game, running back DeSherrius Flowers rushed 12 times for 74 yards and wide receiver Carlos Burse had four receptions for 43 yards. Miller was 19-of-31 through the air for 127 yards, but he was also sacked six times for minus 49 yards.
On defense, Lane had 13 solo tackles, one assist, 14 solo stops, a forced fumble and an interception.
Linebacker Ty Hill had another excellent game with 12 tackles. Hill leads the MACJC and is tied for third in the NJCAA with 28 total tackles.
Linebacker Jahmaad Harrell and Wilson each had six tackles with Greene getting five stops and the fumble recovery.
Despite some solid play on both sides of the ball, Thornton believes the team did not play as well vs. Itawamba as they did against Northwest.
"Going back and looking at film from game one to game two, we probably actually played a bit better in game one against Northwest," he said. "We came off a short week to prepare for Itawamba and that left us behind a little bit going into it. Sometimes, you hope the quick turnaround will help you forget about losing the first game.
"I think we played hard. The disappointing thing about it is when the game was on the line late we did not play as well. I don't know if it was a fatigue factor or what. "When the game is on the line you've got to step up and make those plays."
Thornton pointed out that the Bobcats have played two quality North teams in the first two games. JCJC still has to play defending national champion East Mississippi out of the North.
"We have played two good teams," he said. "Northwest beat Gulf Coast (26-10) last week and Itawamba is really solid. They have a good quarterback (Griggs), who has committed to Southern Miss, a good running back and a solid defense.
"But everybody on the schedule fits the same mold. They are all good. We are playing Northwest, Itawamba and East Mississippi – the three teams who make the playoffs most consistently out of the North. We're just coming up on the short end of the stick right now."
Southwest will be playing its first home game of the season.
The Bears lost at East Mississippi 69-20 in its opener, but knocked off Mississippi Delta 20-13 in Moorhead last week.
That game was tied 13-13 when SMCC quarterback Tyler Shell found wide receiver Shuntez Smith for a 38-yard scoring pass with just 26 seconds left to play. Shell ended the game 15-of-26 through the air for 170 yards.
Shell has replaced Neil McLaurin as the Southwest quarterback. McLaurin had the Bears in the game early vs. EMCC, but was injured in the first half.
Last week, Ravian Pierce had eight catches for 38 yards and Clifford Fernandez had four receptions for 51 yards. LaDarion Thompson led the Bears in rushing with 78 yards on 16 carries.
On defense, Southwest is led by linebacker Czchovaski "CJ" Johnson, who averages nine tackles per game, and defensive back Ashton Jackson.
"Southwest has a good team," Thornton said. "They are on their second quarterback already. Their starter got hurt against East Mississippi and they were right in the game with them at the time. They've got some big tight ends and some receivers that can run. They have a big offensive line.
"On defense, they have some size on the defensive line, maybe not as big as what we've seen so far. They've got some big linebackers and their secondary runs well."
Thornton said the Bobcats respect head coach Tucker Peavey's Southwest Mississippi team.
"They were playing East Mississippi well early on until they had some injuries," he said. "They are a solid team and Coach Peavey and his staff always do a great job. We have to play well to win."
Thornton is optimistic. He said the Bobcats have several positives to note after the first two games.
"We're close," he said. "We are doing a lot of good things and the kids are still working hard. It's a very tight-knit group. We got back at 2 in the morning (last Friday after the Itawamba game) and everybody was at breakfast check and in class after that.
"Everybody was accounted for and it's a good group of kids. We are just having trouble getting over the hump. As long as we keep working together and play hard and have some persistence, good things will happen."
Specifically, Thornton points to a pair of things that could change the Bobcats' fortunes: third down defense and red zone offense.
"We are close, but we've got to stress the importance of getting off the grass on third down and being more consistent on offense in the red zone," he said. "If we do those two things, it's a different thing all together. We could be sitting here 2-0 instead of 0-2."
The Bobcats return home next week to host Pearl River at 7 p.m. on Sept. 17. The Bears will travel to Copiah-Lincoln next week.
 

MACJC standings

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