ELLISVILLE – For the third time in four years, Jones College will face Northwest Mississippi in the MACCC semifinals.
 
The 3rd-ranked Bobcats host the No. 5 Rangers at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The game will air on JCJC.TV with Mark Easley and Luke Johnson on the call.
 
The Bobcats defeated Northwest 36-34 in the 2018 semifinals in Ellisville and dropped a 24-17 decision to the Rangers in the 2019 semifinals in Senatobia. Jones beat Northwest 31-9 in the second game of this season.
 
Jones head coach Steve Buckley has great respect for Northwest head coach Benjy Parker and the Rangers.
 
"Seems like we end up playing them a lot lately," he said. "If you look at our two programs, Benjy took over the same time I did and I think we have a 77 or 78 winning percentage for both of us. We do a lot of the same things offensively. We have a lot of the same philosophies, maybe not the same schemes defensively. We are very evenly matched teams.
 
"They do a great job in recruiting and they run the program the right way. If you like to see good football, you need to be in Ellisville at 2 o'clock on Saturday because it should be a heck of a football game. These are the kinds of games you get excited about playing."
 
In the earlier meeting this year, the Bobcats led 14-0 at halftime and 17-3 after three quarters. Northwest hit a 66-yard touchdown pass with almost 13 minutes left in the game to cut the lead to 17-9. But the Bobcats got a 16-yard touchdown pass from Quaterius Hawkins (Bastrop, Louisiana) to Qua Sanders (West Lowndes) with 5:27 to play and 61-yard touchdown run from La'Damian Webb (Opelika, Alabama) with 3:10 left to seal the win.
 
Buckley said he does not expect to see too much different from the Rangers this time around.
 
"They are not going to change," he said. "Benjy's been doing it a long time and his staff has been together for a long time. They are doing something a little bit different, front-wise, on defense. They have deviated a little the last few weeks on some things and that could have been because of an injury to a kid. 
 
"But I know it's not going to be a 'trick 'em' type of game. You just have to line up, execute and take care of the ball. You are going to have to earn what you get."
 
Jones, the No. 1 seed from the south division, clinched the top spot with a 21-7 victory at Copiah-Lincoln last week.
 
The game was scoreless at halftime, but Jones turned the ball over on downs three times in Wolves' territory in the first half. They turned it over at the Co-Lin 35-yard line, on the CL 13 after having a first and goal at the 5 and at the Wolves' 1 after an 89-yard, 13-play drive.
 
Buckley said the Bobcats played well last week and things would have looked a lot different if they had been able to get touchdowns on those three occasions.
 
 "To be honest with you, unlike some people may think, it was probably our best football game overall," he said. "From a statistical standpoint, if we punch the ball in the end zone three times, you probably feel a whole lot different than we did at half. We had a bad snap twice and it hurt us. We didn't get it done."
 
La'Damian Webb, who was hampered by an injury, was not scheduled to play. But on the fourth and goal play at the 1, Jones elected to snap the ball directly to him, but it did not work and he lost a yard.
 
"Obviously, La'Damian could not play and it was a gametime decision," Buckley said. "We had no intention for him to carry the ball. But in that (short yardage) package we made a last-minute adjustment for it and it just did not go as smoothly as we wanted it to and the snap had a lot to do with it."
 
Jones controlled the game statistically, getting 21 first downs, 138 yards rushing and 279 yards passing for 417 yards of total offense. The Wolves were limited to only nine first downs, 31 yards rushing, 155 yards passing and 186 yards of total offense.
 
Hawkins had a solid night at quarterback, connecting on 21-of-30 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Other than just a few plays, Buckley could not find much fault with his team.
 
"I thought from an execution standpoint, it was probably our best football game," he said. "Did we leave some things on the field? Absolutely, we did. If we clean up about six plays on offense, two plays on defense and one in the kicking game, we feel a lot better about it. 
 
"I thought Quaterius played exceptional, one of his best nights. At halftime, I did not think he was playing that well, but after you look at the tape, it's obvious he did play well. We made some explosive plays and the defense was lights out."
 
This is Buckley's sixth season as head coach and it's the fourth time for the Bobcats to make the playoffs. But he points out that Jones is doing more than just win games.
 
"There are lot of things going on with the program, not only on the field," he said. "We are graduating kids and we are getting kids to the next level. We are getting kids with offers now and I think sometimes we get caught up in the season and the scoreboard and we overlook some of that stuff. But it's been a good run and hopefully, we can keep it going."
 
Saturday's other semifinal game will feature No. 10 Hinds at No. 1 East Mississippi.
 
The MACCC championship will be played on Nov. 13. If EMCC beats Hinds, the championship will be at Scooba. If Jones beats Northwest and Hinds beats EMCC, the championship game will be in Ellisville.
 
Jones College, 2021
Sept. 2 – def. Northeast, 41-7
Sept. 9 – def. Northwest, 31-9
Sept. 16 – def. East Central, 33-13
Sept. 23 – def. Itawamba, 35-23
Sept. 30 – def. Hinds, 28-13
Oct. 9 – def. Southwest, 55-6
Oct. 14 – def. Pearl River, 28-22
Oct. 21 – lost to Gulf Coast, 27-23
Oct. 28 – def. Copiah-Lincoln, 21-7
 
Northwest, 2021
Sept. 2 – def. Copiah-Lincoln, 31-12
Sept. 9 – lost to Jones, 31-9
Sept. 16 – def. Holmes, 51-20
Sept. 23 – def. Northeast, 45-13
Sept. 30 – lost to East Mississippi, 30-21
Oct. 7 – def. Coahoma, 42-12
Oct. 14 – def. Gulf Coast, 38-14
Oct. 21 – def. Itawamba, 41-13
Oct. 28 – def. Mississippi Delta, 44-25