ELLISVILLE – The 10th-rated Jones College Bobcats lost a disappointing, 36-33 contest to Mississippi Delta last weekend.
 
But in the grand scheme of things that loss has no effect on the Bobcats' playoff picture.
 
Jones (6-2, 5-0) can claim the MACCC South Division title with a victory over No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast (7-1, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. 
 
Bobcat head coach Steve Buckley said his team is aware of what is at stake.
 
"We have everything in the world to play for this week," he said. "We are playing a Gulf Coast team that's very good – no different than any Gulf Coast team we've played since we've been here. Our kids got over the loss on Sunday and we had a great practice on Monday. We expect to have a good practice today (Tuesday) and we will be ready to play on Thursday."
 
If Jones beats Gulf Coast, the Bobcats win the division outright and will host the North No. 2 team (the winner of the No. 13 Northeast at No. 15 Northwest game) on Nov. 11.
 
If the Bobcats lose to Gulf Coast, and No. 5 Copiah-Lincoln beats Hinds, there will be a three-way tie for first place between Jones, Gulf Coast and Co-Lin. All three teams will have a win over each other, so the next tiebreaker is overall record. Co-Lin and Gulf Coast will be tied for first at 8-1, Co-Lin would be the No. 1 seed because of a head-to-head win over the Bulldogs and Jones would be out of the playoffs.
 
If Jones loses to Gulf Coast and Co-Lin loses to Hinds, Jones would be tied with Gulf Coast for the top spot at 5-1 and Gulf Coast would be the No. 1 seed because of a head-to-head win and the Bobcats would be No. 2. Jones would then go to No. 8 East Mississippi on Nov. 11 in the playoff opener.
 
MGCCC owns wins over Northwest (49-14), Itawamba (50-0), Southwest (55-33), East Mississippi (42-17), Pearl River (52-21), East Central (28-24) and Hinds (41-0). Their only loss was to Co-Lin (28-23).
 
Buckley said it's a typical Bulldog team.
 
"They've scored a lot of points, especially in the second half," he said. "They just seem to be very explosive in the second half. I think you look at what they are doing defensively and they are going to make you drive the field. It's hard to drive the field when you have to have a lot of number of reps in it. It's smart on their part. We must be patient and we must execute. When we execute, we are a good football team. When we don't execute, we are a very average football team."
 
In last week's loss to the Trojans the Bobcats led 14-3 midway through the second quarter and had MDCC backed up on their own 2-yard line facing a third and 26. But the Trojans got past the Bobcats secondary and connected for a 98-yard touchdown pass.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Bobcats led 31-29 and were forced to punt. But the Trojans blocked the kick, took over on the Jones' 1-yard line and scored on the next play to take their first lead of the game at 36-31 with 5:35 left.
 
Jones then took the kickoff and moved downfield and faced a second and goal at the 2-yard line. But the Bobcats fumbled and MDCC recovered with 1:11 to play. The Trojans ended up taking an intentional safety to end the scoring.
 
Buckley said breakdowns in all three phases of the game led to the loss.
 
"You take the game Saturday and we messed it up offensively, defensively and in the kicking game," he said. "We did not execute when we needed to execute. When you don't execute that's what happens to you. Give Delta credit. They made plays when they had to make plays."
 
The Bobcats, like they have all season, had to deal with the injury bug. Tight end Terron Bedford (Bay) had to play at running back for half the game because of injuries.
 
But Buckley said he will not attribute the loss to injuries.
 
"We have no excuses with injuries," he said. "We are never going to do that. That's just part of the equation. We've got a roster of players that we recruited and sometimes they've just got to get ready and grow up quicker than we think they may need to. Injuries are part of the game and we've had an abnormal amount of injuries this year. But that is not an excuse and we have to get ready to play with what we have."
 
Buckley said the key to this week's game is simple: execution.
 
"We have to execute in all three phases and the players have to do what they are told to do," he said. "If we do what we are told to do and execute, we are a good football team. When we don't, we are an average team. If we go out and execute we will be OK."
 
Thursday's game will air on jcbobcats.com/watch with Luke Johnson and Caleb Hamill on the broadcast.