ELLISVILLE – No. 11 Jones College posted a hard-fought, 31-16 victory over Coahoma on a rainy Thursday night at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.
Jones led the entire evening, but the Tigers had pulled within 22-16 early in the fourth quarter.
Two possessions later,
Isaiah Roberts (Pompano Beach, Fla.) returned a punt 24 yards to the Coahoma 20-yard line. Four plays later,
Christian Baglione (Northwest Rankin) booted a 34-yard field goal to extend the Jones lead to 25-16 with 8:07 left in the game.
The Bobcats forced a three-and-out and Roberts came through with a 61-yard punt return for a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed, but Jones led 31-16 with 6:15 remaining.
Jones started the game well when the Tigers' punter dropped the snap and
Rashad Williams (New Hope) recovered at the Coahoma 16.
On the next play,
Gerald Modest Jr. (Miami, Fla.) ran 16 yards for a touchdown. Baglione's PAT made it 7-0 with 8:49 to play in the first quarter.
Coahoma began a drive late in the first quarter that would end with a 53-yard field goal by Damion Gonzalez. The kick ended a 56-yard, 13-play drive and made it 7-3 with 14:41 to play in the second quarter.
The Bobcat defense got the next score when
Zechariah Parodi (Scott Central) sacked the quarterback and forced a fumble.
Jadan Aubert (Vacherie, La.) recovered at the 1-yard line and went into the end zone for the touchdown. Baglione's extra point made it 14-3 with 9:11 to play in the second quarter.
Gonzalez would then kick another 53-yard field goal with to make it 14-6 with just 48 seconds left in the first half.
On its first possession of the second half, Jones put together a 58-yard, eight-play drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by
Cobey Craft (Taylorsville). Coahoma was called for an illegal substitution on the extra point and the Bobcats elected to go for the two-point conversion.
Quarterback
Blake Murphy's (Plantation, Fla.) run gave the Bobcats a 22-6 lead with 8:40 remaining in the third quarter.
But Coahoma answered with a 72-yard, six-play drive. Quarterback Ashton Strother scored on a 14-yard run and Gonzalez's extra point made it 22-13 with 5:37 left in the third quarter
The Tigers forced a punt and put together another scoring drive.
Gonzalez kicked his third field goal of the night – this one from 36 yards – and Coahoma trailed 22-16 with 13:16 left in the game.
But the Bobcats – keyed by the two punt returns from Roberts – managed to make enough plays down the stretch to pull out the victory.
Roberts had four punt returns for 111 yards and three kickoff returns for 72 yards.
Modest rushed 13 times for 84 yards and Craft gained 62 yards on 18 carries.
Dontavious Howard (Oak Grove) had seven tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one pass breakup.
Lorenzo Smith (Velma Jackson) had five tackles, one TFL and three pass breakups.
Kennon Loftin (West Jones) had five tackles and 1.5 TFLs and
Josh Brown (Columbia) had five tackles. Aubert and Williams had fumble recoveries.
The Bobcats (2-0) begin MACCC South Division play with a trip to No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast (2-0) next Thursday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the game will air on jcbobcats.com. The Bulldogs defeated Mississippi Delta 43-7 on Thursday.
Coahoma (0-2) begins MACCC North Division play at Holmes on Sept. 5.
