DECATUR – The 8th-ranked Jones County Junior College Bobcats almost pulled off a bigtime rally here Thursday night at Bailey Stadium.
Trailing 30-3 early in the third quarter, the Bobcats battled back to within 30-24 with less than one minute to play and had a first and goal at the Warrior 5-yard line.
But on a third and goal play at the 7, East Central forced a fumble and ran it back 85 yards for a touchdown with just 20 seconds left to beat the Bobcats, 37-24.
JCJC piled up 555 yards of total offense, including 472 yards passing by quarterback
Mason Blocker (Covington, Louisiana) and 170 yards receiving by
Kendall Parham (Oak Grove).
On defense, cornerback
Javien Hamilton (Bay Springs) had six tackles and one pass breakup, while defensive back
A.J. Bracey (Terry) and linebacker
C.J. Johnson (Petal) each had six tackles. Linebacker
Cannon Gibbs (Northwest Rankin) had four tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, while linebacker
Ramon Patton (Pascagoula) had four tackles and one sack. Defensive tackle
Javon Kinlaw (Charleston, South Carolina) had four tackles, while defensive end
Markel Winters (Tallahassee, Florida) had two tackles and two sacks. End
Marques Ford (Riverview, Florida) had one tackle, one sack and one tackle for oss, while end
Brandon Young (West Jones) had three tackles, 1/2 sack, two tackles for loss and one pass breakup. Tackle
Jordan Beaton (Harrison Central) had one tackle, one tackle for loss and 1/2 sack.
The Bobcats had six sacks, giving them a nation's best 39 on the season.
But the Bobcats committed four turnovers, including the fumble recovery return and a pass interception return for touchdowns.
JCJC is now 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the MACJC South Division. The Warriors are 3-3 overall and are in sole possession of first place at 3-1.
JCJC took the game's opening kickoff and drove from its own 11-yard line to the East Central 42.
But Blocker's pass would be picked off and returned 62 yards for a touchdown by Xavier Williamson. Aaron Garrett's extra point made it 7-0 with 11:32 left in the first quarter.
The Bobcats then would move from its own 37 to a first and goal at the Warrior 1. But running back
Scott Phillips carried on three straight plays and ended up losing four yards.
Brady Farlow would boot a 22-yard field goal and ECCC lead 7-3 with 5:13 left in the first quarter.
East Central then took over on its own 25 after the kickoff. On their first play from scrimmage in the game, Warrior quarterback Dom Marino connected with Antonio Gibson for a 75-yard touchdown pass. Garrett's PAT made it 14-3 with 4:56 left in the first quarter.
At this point of the game, JCJC had run 20 plays from scrimmage compared to just one for ECCC, but the Bobcats trailed by 11 points.
On the Warriors' next possession, they drove 65 yards in 13 plays. The drive stalled and Garrett kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 17-3 with 11:08 left in the first half.
ECCC would force a Bobcat punt and would take over at its own 14. The Warriors would then hold the ball for 15 plays before JCJC held them at the Bobcat 21. Garrett's 38-yard field goal gave the Warriors a 20-3 lead with 3:42 left in the second quarter.
The Warriors' Jalon Sangster then came up with a pass interception at the Bobcat 30 and returned it to the 17. The Bobcat defense would hold, but Garrett kicked a 32-yard field goal to make it 23-3 with 1:47 left in the first half.
JCJC's
Daquan Smith (McComb) then returned the kickoff 21 yards to the Bobcat 47.
JCJC drove to the Warrior 8-yard line in six plays. But on fourth and 3 with 14 seconds left in the first half, Farlow's 25-yard field goal was off to the left and the Warriors would take a 20-point lead into halftime.
ECCC continued its momentum in the second half.
The Warriors took the second half kickoff and drove 75 yards in seven plays. Marino connected with Devonta Jones on a 32-yard scoring pass on a third and 25 play. Garrett's extra point made it 30-3 with 12:29 left in the third quarter.
But JCJC would begin its comeback on its next possession.
The Bobcats would go 61 yards in just three plays. Blocker threw a short pass to Parham, who turned it into a 65-yard scoring play. Farlow's extra point made it 30-10 with 11:28 left in the third quarter.
JCJC would force an East Central punt and take over at its own 13. From there, the Bobcats drove 87 yards in 12 plays. Phillips would take it into the end zone on a fourth and goal play at the 2. Farlow's extra point made it 30-17 with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter.
JCJC's defense forced another ECCC punt and the Bobcats took over at their own 10. But a deep pass by Blocker would be picked off by Isiah Thomas in Warrior territory.
The Bobcat defense held again and
DeShawn Smith (Brooksville, Florida) returned the punt 30 yards to the JCJC 45.
The Bobcats would drive to the ECCC 17, but would turn the ball over on downs with 7:53 left.
JCJC forced a 'three and out' and took over at its own 42. Two plays later, Blocker found
Trevor Terry (Long Beach) for a 53-yard touchdown strike. Farlow's extra point got the Bobcats to within 30-24 with 5:32 to play.
After another 'three and out', the Bobcats would take possession at their 30-yard line with 3:32 left.
Six plays later, JCJC had a first and goal at the ECCC 5 with less than a minute remaining. Phillips gained a yard on first down and Blocker tried to pass, but was forced out of bounds for a loss of 3 yards back to the 7 on second down.
On third and goal, Blocker was pressured and was stripped of the ball by Sangster. Ja'Mario Craft picked the ball up at the 15 and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown to clinch the game with just 20 seconds remaining.
JCJC outgained ECCC 362-132 in the second half. The Warriors did not punt in the first half, but the Bobcats forced five punts in the second half.
On the receiving front,
Diondre Champaigne (Labson, South Carolina) ended the game with 91 yards, Terry had 86 and
Daquan Smith had 57.
The Bobcats will entertain Pearl River at 2 p.m. on Oct. 15 for Homecoming.
East Central will host Hinds for their Homecoming game on Oct. 15.
East Central 37, Jones County 24
Thursday, October 6
Bailey Stadium
Decatur
Jones County (4-2, 1-2) 3 0 14 7 – 24
East Central (3-3, 2-1) 14 9 7 7 – 37
Scoring summary
1
st quarter – EC, Xavier Williamson 62-yard interception return, 11:32. Aaron Garrett PAT. EC, 7-0.
1
st quarter – JCJC,
Brady Farlow 22-yard field goal, 5:13. EC, 7-3.
1
st quarter – EC, Antonio Gibson 75-yard pass from Dom Marino, 4:56. Garrett PAT. EC, 14-3.
2
nd quarter – EC, Garrett 27-yard field goal, 11:08. EC, 17-3.
2
nd quarter – EC, Garrett 38-yard field goal, 3:42. EC, 20-3.
2
nd quarter – EC, Garrett 32-yard field goal, 1:47. EC, 23-3.
3
rd quarter – EC, Devonta Jones 32-yard pass from Marino, 12:29. Garrett PAT. EC, 30-3.
3
rd quarter – JCJC,
Kendall Parham 65-yard pass from
Mason Blocker, 11:28. Farlow PAT. EC, 30-10.
3
rd quarter – JCJC,
Scott Phillips 2-yard run, 2:29. Farlow PAT. EC, 30-17.
4
th quarter – JCJC,
Trevor Terry 43-yard pass from
Mason Blocker, 5:32. Farlow PAT. EC, 30-24.
4
th quarter – EC, Ja'Mario Craft 85-yard fumble recovery return, :20. Garrett PAT. EC, 37-24.
Jones County East Central
25 FD 15
37-71 Rushes-Yards 35-104
28-41-3 Comp-Att-Int 11-24-0
484 Passing Yards 260
555 Total Offense 364
3-15 Penalties-Yards 8-85
2-34.5 Punts-Ave. 5-42.8
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
JCJC statistics
Rushing
JCJC –
Scott Phillips 26-49;
Daquan Smith 3-19;
Detric Hawthorn 1-10;
Rashaud Green 3-1;
Mason Blocker 3-minus 9.
Passing
JCJC –
Mason Blocker 25-38-3 for 472;
Detric Hawthorn 3-3-0 for 12.
Receiving
JCJC –
Kendall Parham 10-170;
Diondre Champaigne 4-91;
Trevor Terry 3-86;
Daquan Smith 4-57;
Barrett Barham 2-28;
Nate Cohen 2-22;
Chancie Tidwell 1-15;
Jeriko Morris 1-10;
Logan Scott 1-4.
