Football | 10/23/2019 10:28:00 AM

ELLISVILLE – The football regular season ends this week in the MACJC.

The 9th-ranked Jones College Bobcats are hopeful that they will continue playing into November. But that all depends on what happens in Raymond on Thursday.

Jones hosts East Central at 7 p.m. Thursday at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The game will air on JCJC.TV, SuperTalk WLAU-FM, 99.3, and www.supertalklaurel.com with Mark Easley and Chuck Robertson on the call.

Jones enters the game at 6-2 overall, 4-1 in the MACJC South Division. 

The Bobcats must defeat the Warriors and hope that No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast beats No. 6 Hinds on Thursday in order to make the playoffs. MGCCC is currently 5-0 in the division and Hinds is 4-1.

If MGCCC defeats Hinds and Jones beats ECCC, then MGCCC would be the top seed out of the division and Jones would have sole possession of second place.

However, if Hinds downs MGCCC and Jones beats ECCC, then the Bobcats, MGCCC and Hinds would all be 5-1 and tied for the top spot. In the first tiebreaker, each team would own a win over each other – Jones over Hinds, MGCCC over Jones and Hinds over MGCCC. 

The next tiebreaker is overall record. Both Hinds and MGCCC would be 8-1 and the Bobcats would be 7-2 and would be left out.

Head coach Steve Buckley said his players are well aware of the situation.

"Our kids know where we are," he said Monday. "We are going to worry about us. That's been our approach down the stretch and we are concerned about the Jones County Bobcats right now. Whatever else happens, happens. We have no control over anything else. If there is one thing in the world we can control right now, it's our own self.

"We are going to put all of our focus into a good, sound gameplan and get ready to play a good football team."

If the Bobcats make the playoffs, then they would play at the North Division champion on Nov. 2.

East Central enters the game at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the division. 

Head coach Ken Karcher's Warriors own wins over Itawamba (34-14), Southwest (19-0), Pearl River (35-0) and Copiah-Lincoln (23-18). They have losses to No. 2 Northwest (26-13), No. 17 East Mississippi (24-0), No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast (25-5) and No. 6 Hinds (23-20) in overtime.

Last week, East Central led Hinds 20-13 late in the fourth quarter. But the Eagles got a 26-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in regulation to tie it and kicked a short field goal in overtime to win it.

"Coach Karcher and his staff do a tremendous job," Buckley said. "They always do. They are a very, very good football team and nobody has scored a lot on them. Nobody has had a lot of success offensively against them. The games they have lost by more than two scores were because they turned it over. They are very sound offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. I know they will be ready to play when they come in here."

"Our team has got to get ready on a short week and we are beat up right now."

Jones is coming off a tough, 21-14 victory at Copiah-Lincoln.

The Bobcats jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, but the Wolves tied it going into halftime.

Ladamian Webb's (Opelika, Alabama) 5-yard touchdown run with 7:42 left in the game was the difference.

Jones started off the game well, struggled during the middle part, but was able to put together a clutch drive to win it. 

Buckley was pleased with the win.

"If you look at the big picture, it's hard to go on the road and win in this league," he said. "It was a 3 o'clock kickoff and it was hot as heck out there. Both teams had to play in the same environment, but I told the team yesterday (Sunday) we ran 14 plays for 72 yards in the first 10 minutes of the game and got a touchdown. They had six plays for one yard, so obviously we were ready to play."

A big play in the game was when defensive end Chei Hill (Miami, Florida) blocked a 39-yard field goal attempt and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown to start the second quarter.

"I think a huge turning point for us as far in momentum was the blocked field goal scoop and score by Chei," Buckley said. "But at the same time what the normal fan does not realize is that our defense played 27 snaps in a row. That is very difficult at any level. It somewhat drained us, even though we played numbers. It took a toll on us."

Hill also blocked an extra point and had three tackles and a half tackle for loss. Linebacker Kevon Cloyd (Columbia) had six tackles, one sack and one TFL and linebacker Kenderian Dixon (Yazoo County) had six tackles, one sack and two TFLs. Defensive backs Lakevias Daniel (Louisville) and Mileon Graham (St. Martin) and linebacker DeLawrence Butler (Clinton) each had five tackles.

Co-Lin passed for 290 yards, but the Bobcats limited them to only 37 yards rushing.

"I thought defensively, we played tremendous, except we gave up two touchdowns on fourth down conversions," Buckley said. "They had a fourth and nine and a fourth and four and that was disappointing. Overall, Co-Lin is full of firepower. We knew they were capable of striking at any minute, so I think we played well enough on defense."

Webb ended the game with 127 yards on 30 carries and a score. Kalyn Grandberry (Memphis, Tennessee) rushed for 34 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Quarterback Fred Barnum (Warren Central) was 10-of-15 passing for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Natorian Watts (Petal) had three catches for 38 yards and Bud Tolbert (Water Valley) had one reception for 30 yards.

"Offensively, I thought we controlled the game, but at the same time, we put ourselves behind the chains with issues that we don't need to be having in game eight," Buckley said. "We had false starts and little mechanical problems that should not be happening at this point in the season. That was a disappointing thing offensively."

Still, the Bobcats managed to pick up three first downs and run out the clock after they stopped Co-Lin on downs at their own 27-yard line with 4:24 left to play. 

Punter Greg Hayden (Vicksburg) clinched the game when he ran 28 yards on a fake punt and got a first down at the Co-Lin 17-yard line with just 22 seconds remaining.

"I thought we finished the game well with a long drive," Buckley said. "To hold the ball over four minutes and make some key first downs was big."

The playoffs begin on Nov. 2 and the MACJC championship game is slated for Nov. 9.
 
 

MACJC STANDINGS

SOUTH DIVISION
                                    Division           Overall
Miss. Gulf Coast          5-0                   8-0
Jones College              4-1                   6-2
Hinds                           4-1                   7-1
East Central                3-2                   4-4
Copiah-Lincoln            1-4                   3-5
Pearl River                  1-5                   2-6
Southwest                   0-5                   0-8
 
NORTH DIVISION
                                    Division           Overall
Northwest                    4-1                   7-1
Holmes                        3-2                   3-5
East Mississippi          3-2                   5-3
Itawamba                    3-2                   4-4
Mississippi Delta        3-3                   3-5
Northeast                    2-3                   3-5
Coahoma                    0-5                   1-7
 
 
Last week's results
Jones 21, Copiah-Lincoln 14
Hinds 23, East Central 20 (OT)
Mississippi Gulf Coast 25, Pearl River 3
Itawamba 35. Southwest 10
Northwest 41, Northeast 17
East Mississippi 55, Coahoma 20
Mississippi Delta 46, Holmes 42
 
Oct. 24 games
East Central at Jones, 7 p.m.
Coahoma at Holmes, 3 p.m.
Mississippi Gulf Coast at Hinds, 6:30 p.m.
Mississippi Delta at Pearl River, 6 p.m.
Itawamba at Northwest, 7 p.m.
 
Oct. 26 games
Northeast at East Mississippi, 2 p.m.
Copiah-Lincoln at Southwest, 5 p.m.