ELLISVILLE – No. 14 Jones College opens the 2024 season against a familiar opponent.
 
Mississippi Delta makes the long trip down from Moorhead for the second straight season. Last year, the Trojans shocked the then No. 4-rated Bobcats, 36-33. Jones was 6-1 at the time and MDCC was only 1-6.
 
Jones head coach Steve Buckley said last year's game has no effect on this year's contest.
 
"There's proof that anybody can beat anybody," said Buckley, who owns a 56-19 record in eight years as the Bobcat head coach. "We lost our Homecoming game to them last year. This is not a revenge game – I don't believe in that. This is 2024 and it's a new year and we have to focus on the first one. You can't win No. 2 until you win No. 1."
 
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Thursday and the game will air on jcbobcats.com/watch with Mark Easley and Chuck Robertson on the call.
 
The Trojans, like many community college teams, had not released their official roster as of Monday of game week.
 
Buckley said the Bobcats would install their game plan for MDCC as best they could, despite not having a full grasp of the opposing roster.
 
"Right now, you are dealing with the unknown," he said. "After week one, you will know more. After week two, you will know even more and so on. We have to prepare for a lot of unknowns this week. At the same time, we have to focus on us and what we think we are going to get from Delta. Everybody has good players because you have a 65-man roster."
 
The Bobcats have plenty of unanswered questions themselves, but Buckley thinks they will be prepared.
 
"I guess everybody at this point is ready to play and there are some unknowns there because it's your first game and you are dealing with a 50 percent new roster," he said. "The young guys have to play and they have to be ready. I think we are on pace to start the season.
 
"But we just have to focus on ourselves and go from there."
 
The Bobcats will be starting Brax Garrison (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) at quarterback. He is a 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore who was 4-0 as a starter last year. Lineman Kelten Mickell (Petal) anchors the defense. He is a 6-foot-2, 298-pound sophomore and started every game last year. He has received Division I offers from Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina and several others.
 
Thursday's contest marks the 100th Jones game at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The stadium opened in 2003 and the Bobcats owns a 71-28 record at the venue.
 
Next week, Jones will host Coahoma at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5, while MDCC hosts No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast.