ELLISVILLE – Fourth-ranked Jones College will be playing a non-South Division game this weekend.
The Bobcats, 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the division, will host Mississippi Delta at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for Homecoming at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The Trojans are 1-6 overall, 1-4 in the MACCC North Division. The game will air on jcbobcats.com/watch with Mark Easley and Chuck Robertson on the call. The game will not air on WLAU-FM, 99.3 SuperTalk Laurel.
Even though the game has no bearing on the division race and the Trojans have struggled, Bobcat head coach
Steve Buckley said Jones must be ready to play.
"We are playing the next team up and that's Delta," he said. "We understand that anybody in this league can beat anybody on any given day."
The Trojans only win of the season came vs. Coahoma (21-19). They have lost to Southwest (51-6), No. 7 Copiah-Lincoln (34-7), Northeast (40-0), Itawamba (29-0) and Northwest (31-13). Last week, MDCC had a rough time, dropping a 58-6 decision to Holmes.
Buckley, however, said the Trojans can cause problems.
"Delta is very athletic and well-coached," he said. "They've got a great scheme offensively with athletic quarterbacks. They've got receivers that can really run. Defensively, they can cause you a lot of problems if you are not careful with their blitz package and man coverage. They are going to outnumber you in the box and give you some issues there.
"We have got to have a good week of prep this week."
Troy Griffin, a 6-foot, 160-pound freshman from Indianola Gentry, is the Trojan quarterback. Davion Alston, a 6-foot, 175-pound freshman from Northwest Rankin, is the top MDCC running back and Sirr Trotter, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore from Cleveland Central, is the leading receiver. On defense, Malik Sims, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore linebacker from Warren Central is the leading tackler, and Markavius Smith, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound sophomore end from South Delta, tops the team in sacks.
Last week, the Bobcats posted a hard-fought, 27-21 victory at Southwest.
Quarterback
Brax Garrison (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) completed 15-of-28 passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Running backs
Trent Davis (Attalla, Alabama) had 11 carries for 106 yards and
Omar Johnson (Columbia) had 14 rushes for 88 yards and a score.
Latrell Neville (New Orleans) had three catches for 41 yards and a score and Davis also had three receptions.
Defensively, cornerback
Cedrick Beavers (Taylorsville) had a team-leading six tackles, with one interception and a tackle for loss,
Tyreke Snow (Newton) and
Raymond Collins (Harrison Central) each had five tackles and
Lorenzo Smith (Velma Jackson) had a pass interception.
Ray Hardy (Newport News, Virginia) had a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and a blocked punt.
Buckley said the Bobcats would take a victory any way they can get it.
"It's the same old song, same old verse," Buckley said. "When you go on the road in this league and you win, you're happy. Our team had to overcome a lot of adversity last week with injuries. We had key people that could not play or tried to play. Our freshmen have got to continue to develop and grow up and they are in the process of doing that.
"Give Southwest credit because they battled. We knew what they were going into it and they played their tails off. But I was just proud of our guys for battling and overcoming and we made some mistakes along the way, but we got out of there with a win."
In an unusual bit of scheduling, this will be the second straight Saturday game for the Bobcats. But Buckley said last week's practice adjustments should carry over to this week.
"Back-to-back Saturday games is always a little bit different," he said. "It throws the routine off, but we should be used to it this week. It should not be a factor for this game."
Saturday will be Homecoming on campus. There will be a parade beginning at 10 a.m. along with numerous other events. The Bobcat championship football teams of 1968, 1978, 1983 and 1998 will be recognized.
Buckley said he has made his players aware of the activities that surround a Homecoming game.
"We talked to our kids about that on Monday," he said. "We explained to them that Homecoming weekend in college is a little bit different. There are a lot of extracurricular activities going on and we can be mindful of that. But at the same time the focus for us is on Delta and not the festivities surrounding Homecoming. We can enjoy Homecoming after the ballgame."
Jones ends regular season play next week vs. No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast in a major division game. The contest will kickoff beginning at 7 p.m. on Nov. 2.
Mississippi Delta ends its season at No. 9 East Mississippi on Nov. 2.
