Football | 9/26/2017 3:14:00 PM

ELLISVILLE – Jones County Junior College is riding a three-game winning streak and received votes in the latest NJCAA football poll.
Southwest is winless and has had a number of injuries during the first part of the season.
But JCJC head coach Steve Buckley said the Bears of head coach Tucker Peavey will provide a test for the Bobcats this week.
"Like I say every week, you are not going to outcoach people in this league, you have to out-recruit them," he said. "No question, Southwest is struggling with the injury bug. You look at their first game and their fourth game and there are a lot of different faces in their lineup.
"But I know Coach Peavey and I know they will line up and have a game plan that will be very simple and solid on how to attack us and how to defend us."
The Bobcats, 3-1, travel to Summit to face the Bears, 0-4, at 7 p.m. on Thursday at John I. Hurst Stadium. The game will air on www.jcjc.tv and the Jones County Junior College Facebook page on Facebook Live with Mark Easley and Chris Robinson on the call.
The Bobcats, since a 47-34 loss to No. 1 East Mississippi to start the season, have reeled off wins over Mississippi Delta (51-10), Coahoma (33-16) and Copiah-Lincoln (35-10).
The Bears have lost to Coahoma (35-20), No. 3 Holmes (67-34), Hinds (40-14) and Northeast Mississippi (36-19).
Buckley said there is no danger that the Bobcats will overlook Southwest.
"That won't be a factor with this football team," he said. "We have nine opportunities to play and this is the fifth game of nine. Like I told the players, everybody is building a resume' here. It's all about game day. We just have to continue to build on what we have done in these last three weeks and keep just getting better."
The Bears have some talented players, including wide receiver Neil McLaurin (6-2, 195) out of West Jones. McLaurin has played wide receiver, quarterback and returned kicks this season. He had an 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown vs. Northeast last week.
"Neil is playing a lot of receiver and I wouldn't be surprised if we see him at quarterback this week," Buckley said. "They have some injuries at their quarterback position. Neil is a tremendous athlete. You can see him in the kicking game and they try to get the ball in his hands a lot and when they do positive things happen for them."
McLaurin leads Southwest in receiving with 19 catches for 375 yards (93.5 ypg) and two touchdowns. Juwan Adams (6-3, 215) of North Pike is the quarterback and passes for just over 100 yards per game. Chase Hughes (5-11, 190) of Centreville Academy leads the team in rushing with just over 66 yards per game and has scored three touchdowns.
Linebacker Chanler Ferguson (6-0, 240) of Boynton Beach, Florida, and defensive back Lavorclay Gaddis (5-10, 178) of West Marion lead the Bears with 34 and 31 tackles, respectively. Defensive back Anfernee Jordan (Hazlehurst) has two interceptions.
JCJC is coming off one of its top performances of the year, a 25-point win over the previously 20^th-rated Wolves.
JCJC limited Co-Lin to 241 yards of offense and only 30 yards rushing.
"We did a lot of good things," Buckley said. "Defensively, it might have been our best performance in the last year and a half. We were very sound. We aligned correctly pre-snap, which was a big push going into this game. I thought the defensive backs did a great job of getting ready to play pre-snap."
Linebacker Tyrek Moody (Petal) had seven tackles, end Wardalis Ducksworth (Mize) had six tackles, two sacks and one tackle for loss. Linebacker Jordyn Bowlin (Starkville) had four tackles, two sacks, one tackle for loss and two forced fumbles. Defensive back Fred Peters (Columbia) had five tackles, a pass interception, two fumble recoveries and a sack. Tackle Dashawn Crawford (Bay Springs) had three tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. End Brandon Young (West Jones) had three tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss and defensive back Jamar Richardson (Aliceville, Alabama) had one sack and one fumble recovery.
The Bobcats ended the game with eight quarterback sacks and eight tackles for loss.
"That was the game plan," Buckley said. "I feel like if we can get single blocks up front by bringing one extra player, we have a chance to get to the quarterback. But the biggest thing we have to continue to focus on is containing the quarterback. When our outside pressure guys come inside, it creates outside running lanes that don't need to be there. But I thought our defense played very, very well."
On offense, JCJC racked up 425 yards, including 368 yards on the ground. DeShawn Smith (Brooksville, Florida) had 13 carries for 152 yards and a 38-yard scoring run. Scott Phillips had 18 rushes for 127 yards and a 55-yard scoring jaunt.
"Offensively, I thought we did a lot of good things. When you rush the ball for as many yards as we did, you are doing some things right," Buckley said. "But I thought we left a lot of plays on the field. A lot of it was self-inflicted because we kept getting behind the chains and it was our own fault. We would have a fumble or a penalty and we were not as consistent as we needed to be. But there was enough to build on offensively, especially running the football. That was our challenge – let's line up and run the football."
On special teams, punter Taylor Wallace (Jackson Prep) was exceptional with seven punts for a 37.3 yards per kick average. Four of those resulted in fair catches and two were inside the 20-yard line.
"Taylor is as good as anybody in the country, in my opinion," Buckley said. "He flipped the field one time when he hit about a 50-yarder with a minus four on the return. And it's not just Taylor – it's our entire coverage team. They are doing a great job."
The Bobcats did allow some yards on kickoff returns and Mike Kroeze (Madison Central) misfired on two field goals. Buckley said they must improve in those aspects.
"We had lapses on kickoff coverage, but a lot of it had to do with placement of the kick," he said. "Michael is a good kicker and he just has to get his confidence back. He needs to hit the ball where we need to and make some field goals. You have to be like a defensive back. You have to forget about that play and make the next one because we needed those three points right before the half."
The Bobcats appeared to have the game under control until late in the third quarter, but Co-Lin recovered a fumble and used a trick pass play to score on the next play from 35 yards away.
But JCJC answered with a 65-yard, five-play drive with Smith scoring on a 38-yard run. Early in the fourth quarter, Bowlin forced a fumble and Peters picked it up and ran it in from 40 yards away for a touchdown.
After Travis Reed (Meridian) came up with an interception, quarterback Chris Weaver (Bay Minette, Alabama) ended the scoring with a 7-yard run with 12:53 left.  
"I thought our kids responded to everything we talk about as a coaching staff," Buckley said. "There was some adversity in that game from a turnover standpoint to a big play standpoint by Co-Lin. But we responded to it in the proper way."
The Bobcats will play their final Thursday game of the season next week when they host East Central at 7 p.m. on Oct. 5 at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
Southwest hosts Pearl River for their Homecoming on Oct. 7.
 

MACJC

 

SOUTH DIVISION

                                                Division           Overall
Hinds                                        2-0                   3-0
Miss. Gulf Coast                       2-0                   3-1
Jones County                           1-0                   3-1
Pearl River                               1-1                   2-2
Southwest                                0-1                   0-4
Copiah-Lincoln                         0-2                   2-2
East Central                             0-2                   1-3
 

NORTH DIVISION

                                                Division           Overall
East Mississippi                      2-0                   4-0
Holmes                                   2-0                   4-0
Itawamba                                1-1                   1-3
Northwest                               1-1                   2-1
Coahoma                                0-1                   1-3
Northeast                                0-1                   1-3
Mississippi Delta                     0-2                   0-4
 
 
Last week's results
Jones County 35, Copiah-Lincoln 10
Hinds 42, Pearl River 16
Mississippi Gulf Coast 48, East Central 25
East Mississippi 48, Itawamba 24
Holmes 30, Coahoma 20
Northwest 41, Mississippi Delta 0
Northeast 36, Southwest 19
Thursday's games
Copiah-Lincoln at East Central, 6:30 p.m.
Mississippi Gulf Coast at Hinds, 6:30 p.m.
Northwest at Holmes, 6:30 p.m.
Jones County at Southwest, 7 p.m.
East Mississippi at Mississippi Delta, 7 p.m.
Northeast at Coahoma, 7 p.m.
Pearl River at Itawamba, 7 p.m.