ELLISVILLE – Jones College head coach Steve Buckley knows his No. 10 Bobcats will face a challenge when they open MACCC South Division play at No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast this week.
 
"They are just a sound football team," Buckley said Tuesday morning of the Bulldogs (2-0). "They've got good players and they can coach. They run good schemes and we've got to be prepared to improve this week. I thought we had a good practice yesterday (Monday)and we need to have another good one today. We need to focus on Jones and getting better in execution in what we are doing and I think the end results take care of themselves when you do those things.
 
"But obviously, it's a big game, it's the first division game and that makes it that much more important."
 
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at A.L. May Stadium. The game will air on jcbobcats.com/watch with Mark Easley and Chuck Robertson on the call.
 
Jones (2-0) is coming off a 31-16 win over Coahoma. The Bobcats were up 22-16 midway through the fourth quarter when Isaiah Roberts (Pompano Beach, Fla.) had two big punt returns to help Jones get the win.
 
His 24-yard return set up a Christian Baglione (Northwest Rankin) 34-yard field goal to give the Bobcats a 25-16 lead with 8:07 to play. Roberts returned the next punt 61 yards for a touchdown to seal the win. He was named MACCC Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts.
 
Buckley said he thought the Bobcats made progress from the season opening, 41-9 win over Mississippi Delta.
 
"I thought overall, as a football team, we were cleaner in a lot of areas than we were in the first game," he said. "Maybe it didn't feel like it in the game, but when you go back and look at the film, I thought we made improvement as a football team from game one to game two."
 
Buckley added that the Bobcats must continue to make strides on offense, defense and in the kicking game.
 
"The thing we have to do offensively is that we've got to convert third downs and stay on the field," he said. "Defensively, we've got to get off the field on third downs. We were solid in the kicking game. We had a kick blocked where we kicked it low. We had a blocked punt and should have blocked two more. We had the punt return for a touchdown.
 
"I think you see where all three phases worked together in that ballgame. We had a defensive score, we had a special teams score and we had an offensive score. All three phases contributed to the end result."
 
The Bobcats had 14 first downs, 160 yards rushing, 81 yards passing and 241 yards of total offense vs. Coahoma.
 
Buckley said the Bobcats need to clean up some things to improve those numbers.
 
"We are close in the run game and we are close in the pass game," he said. "We have got to throw and catch and we haven't done that consistently."
 
MGCCC opened the season with a 34-28 win at No. 8 East Mississippi and followed that up with a 43-7 victory at Mississippi Delta.
 
The Bulldogs are led on offense by quarterback Landon Varnes. Varnes is a 5-foot-11, 190-pound freshman from Brandon. 
 
In the win at EMCC, Varnes completed 21-of-32 passes for 233 yards, four touchdowns and also ran for a score. He was named the MACCC and NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week for that performance. 
 
Last week at MDCC, he was 8-of-18 through the air for 159 yards and three scores. His seven touchdown passes leads the MACCC and ranks second nationally.
 
Buckley has been impressed by Varnes through two games.
 
"He is a true freshman from Brandon and does a great job of managing their offense," he said. "He's an executor, he has a live arm and he can move it with his legs. He's a competitor. You can see it on film."
 
Last week, the Gulf Coast defense limited the Trojans to only 99 yards of total offense.
 
Buckley said moving the ball vs. the Bulldogs will be a challenge.
 
"We have got to sustain drives offensively," he said. "They are not going to give up a bunch of big plays. Their philosophy, according to film, is to make you drive the field, which is hard to do at any level of football. We must take care of the ball and convert third downs. 
 
"Defensively, we have to get third down stops and get off the field. Gulf Coast traditionally has been a 50 percent or better third down conversion team, which is very, very good. We have to eliminate them from converting third downs."
 
The Bobcats return home to face No. 15 Copiah-Lincoln at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19. MGCCC visits Southwest on Sept. 19.