ELLISVILLE – It's cut and dried for No. 4 Jones College as they visit Gulf Coast this week.
 
If Jones wins, the Bobcats claim the MACCC South Division title outright and host the No. 2 team from the north division on Saturday, Nov. 5 in the MACCC semifinals.
 
If Gulf Coast wins, the Bobcats will be the second seed in the division and travel to Northwest on Nov. 5 in their playoff opener.
 
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Thursday at A.L. May Stadium and the game will air on JCJC.TV, WLAU-FM, 99.3 and SuperTalk.fm with Mark Easley and Chuck Robertson on the call.
 
The Bobcats are 8-0 overall, 5-0 in the division and are coming off a 31-10 win at Mississippi Delta last week. MGCCC is 5-3 overall, 4-1 in division play. The Bulldogs own three straight wins over Jones.
 
Jones College head coach Steve Buckley was happy to get the victory and a long road trip out of the way.
 
"I thought we overcame a lot last week," he said Tuesday morning. "We had the flu-bug and we had a lot of kids sick. I thought they handled that distraction very well. We went on the road, won a ballgame and felt good about it. 
 
"We are sitting here at 8-0 and they are 5-3 and it comes down to one game. It's kind of crazy, but that's the way it works. Their losses were in the right side (north division) of the state and that's the way it works."
 
Robert Henry (Lumberton) went over the 1,000-yard mark in last week's win. Henry had 17 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 1,081 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns on the season – both numbers that lead the NJCAA.
 
Jones is averaging 31.5 points per game, which is fourth in the MACCC and ninth in the nation. MGCCC averages 33.1 points per game, which is second in the conference and sixth in the NJCAA.
 
The Bulldogs had to defeat Hinds last week to put themselves in this position. They came through with a 34-7 win which impressed Buckley.
 
"I thought that would be a heck of a matchup," he said. "We had played Hinds and had not played Gulf Coast. We had seen them on tape a little bit with crossover film and we thought it would be a close ballgame. Obviously, hats off to Gulf Coast because they went on the road and won a big game. That's what you have got to do in this league late in the year.
 
"Gulf Coast is a good football team. We play them every year and it seems like it always comes down to something important when we play them. I guess neither one of us would want it any other way."
 
The Bulldogs are led by quarterback Pat McQuaide, the nation's leading passer. McQuaide, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound sophomore from Solon, Ohio, has completed 169-of-244 passes for 2,075 yards, a nation's best 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.
 
McQuaide averages 259.4 yards per game through the air, which tops the NJCAA. He is a transfer from Kent State.
 
"He's a good player, but they've had good quarterbacks pretty much every year we play them," Buckley said. "This guy is no different. He's an older kid who transferred in there. He's a lefty who can run their offense effectively. He doesn't turn it over, he makes smart decisions and he's got a live arm. He runs the ball effectively when he wants to. They've got good receivers and a big offensive line and physical backs. Their offense is very capable."
 
Bobcat defensive back Lardarius Webb Jr. (Jackson Academy) picked off his fifth pass of the season last week, which leads the country. The Bobcats have 14 pass interceptions as a team which leads the MACCC and is tied for second in the country.
 
Jones allows 13.3 points per game, which leads the MACCC and is sixth in the NJCAA. The Bulldogs allow 19.4 points per game, which is fifth in the conference and 20th in the country.
 
"Defensively, they are just Gulf Coast," Buckley said. "They are a good football team. They are big up front and their linebackers and secondary can run. There are not a lot of weaknesses."
 
Buckley said there will be no surprises in Perkinston. Both teams will stay with what they have done all year.
 
"There are no secrets at this point in the season," he said. "You don't hold back and you don't save stuff. I don't think anybody does that. You've got to go out and see who is the best football team and our kids know that. I don't think we had a good practice yesterday (Monday). I don't think it was lack of focus; it was just kind of lethargic, I guess you would say. Today should be better.
 
"But it was a Monday and it was a day to clean up some things. I think as the week progresses, I think our kids will answer the bell. We've got a good football team, too, and it should be a heck of an evening."
 
Buckley said a big key of the game is to not get involved in the outside distractions of the evening.
 
"We just don't need to get caught up in the hype of this game," he said. "If you're not careful, you can spend too much energy on that and forget about what you are there to do, which is to execute. We are a good football team when we execute. When we don't execute, we are an average football team.
 
"I think we've got to keep the kids on a low keel, so to speak. There is no magic in this game. I'm not going to fool this team or try to fool myself and think there is some speech I can give them. This is what you play for. We will match intensity at the right time."
 
Buckley is confident his team will battle no matter the circumstances on Thursday.
 
"I know these kids and our kids are fighters," he said. "Sometimes, you've just got to take the gloves off and get bare knuckles. When the time comes, I think our kids can respond to that."
 
If Jones wins and Pearl River beats East Central, then the Wildcats will be the No. 2 team out of the south, leaving Gulf Coast out.