ELLISVILLE – One of the top matchups in the NJCAA will take place this week at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
 
No. 5 East Mississippi will travel to face No. 9 Jones College in an early season Top 10 clash at 7 p.m. Thursday. The game will air on JCJC.TV, WLAU-FM, 99.3, and SuperTalkLaurel.com with Mark Easley and Luke Johnson on the call.
 
Both teams are coming off big opening week victories. The Bobcats thrashed Itawamba 44-0 and East Mississippi also notched a shutout, defeating Copiah-Lincoln, 38-0.

The teams have split the last eight meetings in Ellisville and the last 22 overall meetings.
 
Bobcat head coach Steve Buckley has great respect for 15th-year EMCC head coach Buddy Stephens and the Lions' team. He says EMCC may have the edge in experience.
 
"Buddy has been doing this for a long time," he said. "You talk about depth and young guys vs. old guys and on their two-deep roster out of their 44 starters and backups, you've got 35 sophomores. Only nine freshmen are listed on their two-deep. It's no different than a four-year league in that the older you are, the better you are. He's got a seasoned team.
 
"We know what we are going to get when they get here. We've got to match effort for effort because they are always going to play hard and be well-coached. And they know how to win. We've got to match their intensity."
 
Offensively, the Lions rely on quarterback Peter Parrish, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore from Phenix City, Alabama. Parrish originally signed with LSU before transferring to Memphis.
 
In last week's win, Parrish completed 22-of-30 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 11 times for 44 yards and a score.
 
"He's a very athletic kid who can throw the ball and run it," Buckley said. "He is a tremendous athlete and looks like a field general. He can beat you with his arm and his feet."
 
Defensively, EMCC was led by Stephen Cattledge Jr., who had 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss. Cattledge is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore linebacker from Columbus.
 
In last week's win over Co-Lin, EMCC led only 3-0 at halftime before dominating in the second half.
"It's the same deal where you worry about the first game," Buckley said of EMCC's struggles in the opening 30 minutes. "They had some flaws in the first half, but the second half it was not the same team."
 
Meanwhile, the Bobcats were dominant in blanking the Indians.
 
Jones had 24 first downs and 498 yards of total offense. ICC had only seven first downs and 103 yards of offense.
 
Running back Robert Henry (Lumberton) rushed 18 times for 190 yards and four touchdowns and was named the MACCC Offensive Player of the Week. Wide receiver Kendall Coleman (Choctaw County) had six catches for 58 yards and Ashton Nickelberry (Brandon) had four receptions for 41 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Defensively, Jamison Kelly (Columbia) led a swarming defense with five tackles, Lardarius Webb Jr. (Jackson Academy) and Jhatavious Slack (Scott Central) each had an interception and André Mack (Madison Central) blocked a punt.
 
"I think we had 10 explosives on our offensive side and Itawamba did not have any," Buckley said. "Any time you pitch a shutout, you gave a pretty good effort. I thought we played well, everybody got to play and we had young guys get quality reps, which they need."
 
Buckley was pleased overall with the play of his team, especially considering it was the season opener.
 
"It was a clean game," he said. "The things we try to do - goals per game – offensively, take care of the ball and defensively, create turnovers. We had no turnovers and we forced two turnovers. We stayed in front of the chains on offense and I think we had three negative plays, which is not horrible for a first game."
 
Buckley added that the Bobcats aligned properly and tackled well all evening.
 
"Defensively, we lined up correctly and I thought we did a great job of tackling," he said. "We preach no pre-snap or post-snap penalties and I think we had one on offense. We had no offsides on defense and no post-snap penalties. Those were all positive signs of the kids being ready to play. I thought we were ready to play and, for the most part, we executed well. But there is a lot of room for improvement.
 
"That's our goal this week – to focus on us and focus on the things we can correct."
 
Once again, Buckley said his freshmen and inexperienced players will have to get better for the Bobcats to have a chance to be successful.
 
"I've been saying this all summer and all camp – the young guys have got to continue to progress," he said "That maturity level has to improve for us to make a run at this thing."
 
Next week, the Bobcats open MACCC South Division play with a 6:30 p.m. contest on Sept. 15 at Co-Lin.
 
East Mississippi begins MACCC North Division play with a game at Holmes on Sept. 15.