ELLISVILLE – It will be a quick turnaround for No. 4 Jones College this week.
 
After beating Pearl River 16-10 on Saturday, the Bobcats will have a short week to prepare for Southwest. 
 
Jones will host the Bears at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The game will air on JCJC.TV, WLAU-FM, 99.3, and SuperTalkLaurelFM.com with Mark Easley and Luke Johnson on the call.
 
It is the final home regular season game for the Bobcats.
 
Jones head coach Steve Buckley said his team has planned for the short week and should be ready to go.
 
"We started preparing for it before last week," he said Tuesday morning. "We started explaining it to them and talking about it. We started laying out the itinerary and how we would prepare for a short turnaround, so it would not be a surprise to them. I think we've handled it very well so far."
 
The Bobcats are 6-0 overall and top the MACCC South Division at 4-0. Hinds is 3-1, followed by Gulf Coast at 2-1. Copiah-Lincoln and Pearl River are both 1-2, Southwest is 1-3 and East Central is 0-3.
 
The Bears own wins over Mississippi Delta (50-0) and East Central (24-20). They have lost to Coahoma (28-15), Gulf Coast (45-7), Co-Lin (44-13) and Hinds (30-24).
 
On offense, the Bears are led by quarterback Chris Roberson and wide receiver Jacoby Bellazar. Roberson is a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore from McComb and Bellazar, who has committed to Mississippi State, is a 5-foot-11, 175-pound sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bellazar has 23 catches for 386 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Defensively, Fred Lewis and Hunter Lee are the leading tacklers for Southwest with 37 and 36 stops, respectively. Lewis is a 6-foot, 220-pound linebacker from North Pike and Lee is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker from Taylorsville.
 
Buckley said Southwest head coach Cliff Collins has done well in his two seasons with the Bears.
 
"Southwest is another good football team and Cliff has done a good job there," he said. "They've got players and they've got the same number of scholarships we have. I know the kind of game it's going to be. They have talent, they have a talented quarterback and they are big on the offensive and defensive lines.
 
"They are a physical football team and we have got to get ready to play."
 
A big concern for Buckley going into the short week is the health of his team. Jones had bumps and bruises going into the Pearl River game and after another physical contest, they now have little recovery time.
 
"We had a really good day yesterday," he said of Monday's practice. "It was probably one of our best days, but we had to take the pads off because we are a beat up football team right now."
 
In last week's win over the Wildcats, Buckley said there were no surprises.
 
"We got exactly what we thought we would get from Pearl River," he said. "I thought our kids responded well. We made it a physical ballgame and that was our challenge to our kids. Defensively, we played lights out. They hit us with a reverse (twice) for 70-something yards and if you take that away, you can't ask for better numbers on paper. 
 
"Offensively, we played well. After the game, it may not have seemed like we played well. But I thought we executed and did some really good things on offense."
 
The Bobcats outgained Pearl River, 260-192, and had an almost eight-minute edge in time of possession. Jones also had 69 snaps, compared to 54 for Pearl River.
 
"We had more yards than they had, we had more plays than they had and time of possession was in our favor by (eight) minutes," Buckley said. "You don't get those numbers like that on snaps and time of possession if you are not executing offensively.
 
"There are corrections that need to be made, but I was not displeased with anything offensively that we did. We had a great game plan and the kids executed it. We just have got to get more points."
 
Jones turned the ball over on three interceptions, but Buckley said those picks were unusual.
 
"We had three turnovers that were freakish," he said. "One was a 50/50 ball and I thought we should have made the play, but give their player credit. The other two, their guy (Alabama linebacker commit Justin Jefferson) tips the ball at the line of scrimmage on an RPO and their defensive lineman picks it. It was not the quarterback's fault or anybody's fault. You just have to give Pearl River credit for those turnovers."
 
The Bobcats led 16-7 late in the third quarter when Pearl River got its third interception. But Buckley credited Jones receiver Ashton Nickelberry (Brandon) for saving a touchdown.
 
"Ashton Nickelberry got the guy down at the 10-yard line and the defense held them to a field goal right there," he said. "That was huge."
 
Buckley added that he will take a six-point victory any day of the week.
 
"I told the whole team on Sunday that I will take the 16-10 win every time as long as we are executing on offense and not making crazy turnovers," he said. "The second thing is to win those kinds of games, you've got to be sound in the kicking game and we were sound. But our kicker has got to make extra points and short field goals."
 
Buckley said with the closeness of talent in the league, the margin for error is thin. Defense and special teams will always play a key role in the outcome of MACCC contests, especially low scoring games.
 
"When I took this job, I told Dr. (Jesse) Smith and the committee that you win a championship with defense, a sound kicking game and not turning the ball over and I still believe that in 2022," he said. "If you look at our league, there is so much parity. You see four, five, six, seven-point games every week."
 
In last week's game, running back Robert Henry (Lumberton) was again the workhorse, piling up 136 yards on 31 carries and scoring a touchdown. He leads the nation in rushing with 916 yards (152.7 yards per game) and he leads the nation in rushing touchdowns with 14.
 
On defense, tackle Janirr Wade (Stone Mountain, Georgia), a transfer from Akron, topped the team with nine tackles. Linebacker Raymond Collins (Harrison Central) had eight and defensive backs Travor Randle (Greenwood) and Jamison Kelly (Columbia) had six stops each. Kelly clinched the game with a pass interception at his own 5-yard line with 1:23 left in the game.
 
Another huge play was when Trent Howell (George County) recovered a muffed Pearl River punt at the Bobcat 43 with just 1:38 left in the first half. The Bobcats trailed 7-3 at the time, but would drive for a touchdown with just 23 seconds left in the first half to take the lead for good.
 
"Trent listens and does what he is asked to do," Buckley said. "He is a gunner and he runs to the returner, even if a fair catch is made. He was busting his tail to get to the returner, the ball hits the (Pearl River) kid in the foot and – boom – there it is."
 
The Bobcats will make their longest road trip of the season next week when they go to Mississippi Delta for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 20. It is also their final non-South Division game.
 
Southwest hosts Pearl River at 5 p.m. on Oct. 22 in its next contest.