Football | 10/18/2018 10:20:00 AM

ELLISVILLE – The top seed in the MACJC South Division will be decided this weekend.
The 7th-ranked Jones College Bobcats host the No. 15 Copiah-Lincoln Wolves at 2 p.m. Saturday for Homecoming at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The game will air on www.jcjc.tvwith Mark Easley and Chuck Robertson on the call.
Both teams are 4-0 in the division and the winner be the top seed from the South and will host a first-round playoff game on Nov. 3.
Jones head coach Steve Buckley said the Bobcats are aware of the importance of this week's contest.
"Everybody knows what's on the line this week," he said. "It's a big ballgame for everybody involved. Co-Lin is in the exact same situation we are in. There is no leader of the pack right now. We've got to get ready to play a good football team."
The Bobcats are 6-1 overall, while the Wolves are 5-2.
Jones has wins over Coahoma (44-0), Hinds (28-25), No. 19 Mississippi Gulf Coast (16-13), Southwest (51-21), Pearl River (48-7) and, last week, Northeast (40-27). The Bobcats' lone loss was to Holmes (25-23).
The Wolves, 5-2, have wins over Northeast (21-7), Pearl River (49-0), Mississippi Gulf Coast (38-13), East Central (42-17) and Hinds (41-27). Losses have been vs. Holmes (29-28) and No. 5 Northwest (23-14).
Coach Glenn Davis' Co-Lin squad is led by receivers Kundarrius Taylor (6-2, 195), DeMartre Collins (5-8, 175) and Malik Heath (6-3, 210), who originally signed with Mississippi State. Running back Deion Dampier (5-10, 210) has rushed for 586 yards and nine touchdowns, while running back Rico Owens (5-10, 210) has 366 yards and four scores.
Quarterback Hayden Davis (6-0, 200) has completed 74-of-123 passes for 898 yards and 13 touchdowns. Quarterback Connor Mire (6-2, 200) has thrown for 392 yards and four scores.
On defense, linebacker Swayze Bozeman (6-2, 210) leads in tackles with 64 and linebacker Jakaiszer Glass (6-2, 215) has 49. Defensive lineman Taijh Alston (6-4, 235) has 48 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks and defensive back Tyrus Wheat (6-3, 220) has 45 tackles and two interceptions.
Buckley is impressed with Co-Lin.
"Glenn and his staff have done a good job," he said. "After two losses, they are playing at a high level right now. They are averaging 40 points a game in the last four games. They are very sound in all three phases. They have a lot of speed overall. They've got receivers that can run and their tailback is explosive and has a lot of yards. They are big up front. Both of their quarterbacks do what they are asked to do. 
"Defensively, they base out of a four-down and they are very active. They mix coverages well. They are also fast in the kicking game."
Last week, the Bobcats had an excellent first half vs. Northeast. 
Jones led 21-0 after the first quarter and 24-0 at halftime before the Tigers rallied in the second half. Jones drove down the field to start the game and failed to score with a first and goal at the 2-yard line.
That was about the only negative aspect of the first half, according to Buckley.
"The first half and second half were totally different for us," he said. "From a production standpoint, Northeast had six possessions in the first half. They had three '3 and outs,' a four-play, five-play and a seven-play drive. They punted five times in six possessions and we had a fourth down stop. So, I thought we dominated defensively.
"Offensively, we had seven possessions and we executed and we moved the ball. The biggest thing was we did not get points when we got down inside the 10-yard line. We have to do better there."
Buckley was disappointed in the Bobcats' play in the second half, but said they will not dwell on it.
"As far as the second half goes, I don't have an answer for you," he said. "I don't know if we were ready to get on the bus and go home or what. That was probably the worst half of defense we've played since we've been here. But at the same time our goal was to be 6-1 leaving Booneville and we were. We won't watch the second half of that game – we will just get ready for this week."
A positive note on last week's victory was special teams play.
First, The Bobcats got a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown by Immanuel Jones (Amory).
"We've been close on special teams and I told them the other day in the special teams meeting that I was tired of being close," Buckley said. "Let's get him in the end zone. It was just a matter of time for Manny. He is an explosive athlete and does a good job in our return game.
"But when you get a punt return for a score, it's not just him. It's not like he broke a bunch of tackles. We work hard on special teams and I thought special teams were very important in that game."
Later, the Bobcats also had a 40-yard touchdown run on a fake punt by Enrique Whaley (Wiggins) and on another fake punt, upback Davis Harrison (Lamar School) connected with Nataurean Watts (Petal) for a 25-yard pass that would lead to a Jones' field goal.
Buckley was pleased with the execution on those plays.
"It's something we work on," he said. "As a head coach, I don't want to waste time working on something and not run it. I felt like we had the look we wanted and we called it. Obviously, we were successful on both of them with the pass to Phat and on the reverse to Enrique. They both worked out like we wanted."
Bobcat running back Kalyn Grandberry (Memphis, Tennessee) rushed for 112 yards last week. He leads the MACJC and is fifth in the NJCAA in rushing with 124.0 yards per game. Quarterback Fred Barnum (Warren Central) threw for 119 yards and quarterback Stetson Bennett (Blackshear, Georgia) had 86 yards passing and a touchdown.
In addition to his punt return score, Jones had seven receptions for 68 yards and wide receiver Gabe Douglas (Denton, Texas) had two catches for 117 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown.
Defensively, end Marquez Bembry (Atlanta, Georgia) had eight tackles and ½ TFL, while Fred Peters (Columbia) had six tackles and one TFL, linebacker Nick Anderson (Vicksburg) had five tackles and one TFL and tackle DaShawn Crawford (Bay Springs) had four tackles and 1 ½ TFLs.
For the season, defensive lineman Chei Hill (Miami, Florida) has 21 TFLs, which is second in the nation, and eight sacks. Anderson leads the team in tackles with 43.
This is the only Saturday regular season game for the Bobcats.
Buckley hopes it does not mess up his team's routine.
"I don't know if that's good or bad with a young team," he said. "Anytime we change a meeting by five minutes, it messes up everybody mentally on our football team when you are dealing with 41 freshmen. But we are going to try and keep it as consistent as we can as far as practice goes. It does give us a couple of extra days early in the week to spend more time meeting and to get some people healed up. 
"But hopefully we handle this week the right way."
Buckley and his team are looking forward to the game and he expects a good one.
"It's championship week around here," he said. "I think offensively we have got to convert short yardage and from the 5-yard line on in. On defense, we've got to quit giving up the big play. A lot of the big plays have been the result of penalties. We had four pass interference penalties last week. We've got to do a better job of keeping our hands off the receiver. And we just have to continue to be sound in the kicking game.
"Co-Lin is very good. It will be a challenge this week."
Jones leads the alltime series vs. the Wolves, 51-32-1.
The Bobcats will conclude regular season play next week when they travel to East Central for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 25.
Co-Lin ends regular season play Oct. 27 when they host Southwest.