ELLISVILLE – The Jones College 2001 MACJC championship football team will be recognized at the school's Homecoming this weekend.
It will be the 20th reunion of that championship season.
A Reunion Dinner will be held at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8 in the C.L. Neill Student Center's Faculty Dining Room. The team will serve as Grand Marshals of the Homecoming Parade, which will begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 9 at the Terrell Tisdale Library on campus.
The 2001 team did not know what to expect going into the season. The previous year, the Bobcats went 3-7.
The Bobcats lost the season opener to Northwest, 30-20, and then bounced back with 10 consecutive victories to end the year.
Head coach Parker Dykes' Bobcats began its winning streak with a 23-7 win over Itawamba in the Lions Bowl game at R.H. Watkins Stadium in Laurel.
The Bobcats then beat Southwest 26-0, Pearl River 24-14 and Mississippi Gulf Coast 24-14 in the annual Homecoming game on Oct. 6. Jones followed that up with a 30-6 win over East Mississippi.
Jones then had a close call against East Central. The Bobcats led 34-10 entering the fourth quarter before the Warriors stormed back to take a 36-34 lead late in the game.
But quarterback Charles Hales connected with Devon Rodgers on a touchdown pass with 1:37 left to play to give Jones a 40-36 victory.
The Bobcats closed the regular season with wins over Hinds at home, 28-7, and Copiah-Lincoln in Wesson, 7-3.
In the playoffs, Jones got revenge for their only loss of the season by defeating Northwest, 24-10. Jones trailed the Rangers 7-0 and 10-7 before bouncing back to win at Bush-Young Stadium on campus.
In the state championship contest, Jones traveled to Moorhead on Nov. 19 to face Mississippi Delta.
The Bobcats trailed 3-0 before tying the game on a 32-yard field goal by Nickolas Terracina to make it 3-3.
Ralph Davis put Jones up with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:07 to play in the second quarter, but the extra point failed. The Trojans kicked a 49-yard field goal to make it 9-6 at halftime.
The Bobcats extended the lead to 16-6 with 11:29 to play in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard touchdown run by Hales.
Jones clinched the championship when Rashard Phillips ran 87 yards for a score in the final minutes to give Jones a 22-6 victory.
Jones County Junior College
2001 season
| Northwest |
L, 30-20 |
| Itawamba |
W, 23-7 |
| Southwest |
W, 26-0 |
| Pearl River |
W, 24-14 |
| Gulf Coast |
W, 30-14 |
| East Mississippi |
W, 30-6 |
| East Central |
W, 40-36 |
| Hinds |
W, 28-7 |
| Copiah-Lincoln |
W, 7-3 |
| Northwest |
W, 24-10* |
| Mississippi Delta |
W, 22-6** |
*playoff semifinals
** MACJC championship game
