ELLISVILLE – Sixth-ranked Jones College has been impressive in its first two games.
 
Now the Bobcats will begin MACCC South Division play.
 
Jones visits Copiah-Lincoln for a 6:30 p.m. contest Thursday at H.L. Stone Stadium. The game will air on JCJC.TV, WLAU-FM, 99.3 and SuperTalkLaurel.com with Mark Easley and Luke Johnson on the call.
 
Jones (2-0) defeated Itawamba 44-0 in the opener and followed that up with a 42-28 decision over previously fifth-ranked East Mississippi last week.
 
But head coach Steve Buckley is taking his team on the road for the first time and he knows it will be a challenge.
 
"It's like I told the team last night (Sunday), let's not focus on Co-Lin, let's focus on Jones," he said. "We just need to clean up some things we've got to clean up and we have to understand that this will be a different Thursday. 
 
"We are going to eat a little bit earlier, we're going to get on a bus, drive an hour and a half and get dressed in a foreign place. We are going to be in a different environment than we've had here the last two weeks. We have 42 new guys and it's their first time to take a road trip with us, so it will be different."
 
The Wolves enter the game at 1-1, falling to EMCC in its opener 38-3 before bouncing back with a 37-7 win at Mississippi Delta. This will be Co-Lin's first home game of the year.
 
Co-Lin is led by quarterback Devon Tott, who has completed 47 percent of his passes for 429 yards and two scores. Running backs Kyjuan Herndon and Johnnie Daniels pace the ground game and wideout Tyquan Henderson has nine catches. Top defenders are defensive back Ques McNeal, linebacker Ja'Len Sims and lineman Nate White.
 
In last week's victory over EMCC, Buckley said the Bobcats concentrated on themselves and overcoming obstacles.
 
"Going into the game it was, 'Let's not worry about East Mississippi, let's worry about Jones,'" he said. "They have good players and we have good players. The week of emphasis was on ourselves – we didn't even talk about East Mississippi.
 
"The second thing we talk about a lot is overcoming adversity. In a football game, bad things are going to happen. I don't care how prepared you are, how good you are or how bad you are. Bad things are just going to happen and it's all about how you respond and how you overcome it."
 
Buckley pointed out early in the game that the Lions blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. But on the next kickoff, Trent Howell (George County) returned it 75 yards to the EMCC 18-yard line and running back Robert Henry (Lumberton) scored on the next play.
 
"We had a poor snap, they block a punt and scoop and score," he said. "But the kickoff team responds with a 75-yard return. So, those are things to build on. I don't think we played sloppy, but I thought we made some mistakes at times that we can't make. I think they are all easily cleaned up."
 
Another example of "not giving up" came in the third quarter when Bobcat quarterback Alan Follis (West Jones) was intercepted. It appeared it would be a 'pick six' for the Lions, but Follis had other ideas.
 
"I thought we had some great life lessons and some great football lessons in that game," Buckley said. "We had a chance to put our head between our legs and not respond, but we responded. A great example of that was when Alan threw the pick on the second possession of the second half. He went and chased the guy down at the 4-yard line."
 
Henry had another remarkable game, rushing 31 times for 219 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring runs of 18, 9 and 69 yards. He was named the MACCC's Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row. 
 
He now has 409 yards and seven touchdowns on the year and leads the NJCAA with 204.5 yards per game. The nearest player to him is averaging 107.0 yards per game. Henry is also tied for the top spot nationally with seven touchdowns.
 
"Robert's playing pretty good right now and it doesn't surprise us," Buckley said. "I said at the beginning of the year that he is in line with (former Bobcat running backs) Scottie (Phillips), Kalyn (Grandberry) and La'Damian (Webb). I think he's carried it 50 times in two ballgames and we have to be careful with him. I thought he had the hot hand the other night. 
 
"I thought he ran better last week than he did the previous week when he did a bunch of sideway stuff. That's something you can get away with in high school, but you can't get away with a bunch of sideway stuff in this league."
 
Defensively, Travor Randle (Greenwood) had a huge game out of the secondary. The 5-foot-9, 197-pound, third-year sophomore had seven tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble and a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown.
 
Buckley said it's important to have someone like Randle on your team.
 
"Travor is the 'Grandpa' of our team," he said. "I tell people all the time that you want him on your team. We had the blitz and he caused a fumble and he had the pick six. Travor just shows up. I don't care about how tall he is or all that stuff – he is just a football player. Travor has played a lot of snaps for us and he's a darn good football player."
 
The Bobcats had a punt and extra point blocked, to go along with two missed extra points. But Buckley is confident in his two kickers, Yohan Thompson (Adams Country Christian School) and Brody Pierce (Starkville Academy).
 
"We have two good kickers and there is nothing wrong with our kickers," he said. "We know both Yohan and Brody can kick. They know they are good kickers and they are well trained. They have been training to kick their whole life with kicking gurus and they know what to do. They just have to take their knowledge of how to kick and take it to the gamefield."
 
The Bobcats return home next week to face East Central in a 7 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 22. It will be Hall of Fame Night as the school will induct Ginger Lonergan, Pauline Love and Anthony Maddox into the Bobcat Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Co-Lin visits Southwest on Sept. 22.