ELLISVILLE – It was not the prettiest "Catfight," but it was a good night for Jones College.
The Bobcats used three explosive plays and defeated Pearl River 21-16 here Thursday night at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. Jones ends the year with a 5-4 record – 2-4 in the MACCC South Division – giving the Bobcats 10 straight winning seasons.
It was the ninth straight win for Jones in the 95th edition of the "Catfight" between the two longtime rivals. Jones now leads the series, 51-42-2.
The Bobcats had struggled offensively until freshman quarterback
Jevarion Glover (Amanda Elzy) broke a 63-yard touchdown run with 5:13 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
After the Wildcats regained the lead on a field goal,
Tyree Barnett (Hattiesburg) returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to give Jones a 14-10 lead with 13:11 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats gained some breathing room when Glover scored on a 3-yard run with 5:22 left in the game. The score was set up by a 54-yard pass from Glover to
Kaiden Smith (Oak Grove) when Jones faced a third-and-22 from its own 19-yard line. Glover's score ended a 69-yard, nine-play drive and
Christian Baglione (Northwest Rankin) booted his third extra point of the night to give Jones a 21-10 lead.
Pearl River answered with a 64-yard, eight-play drive with Keenan Franks scoring on a 3-yard run with 2:12 left. The pass on the two-point conversion attempt was intercepted by
Kelton McLaurin (Oak Grove) and the Bobcats maintained a five-point lead.
After the Wildcats were penalized for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the touchdown Jones would recover the onside kick at the PRCC 34-yard line. Three plays later, the Bobcats were forced to punt and
Luke Stewart's (Oak Grove) kick was downed at the Wildcat 2-yard line with just 25 seconds left.
With no timeouts, the Wildcats were only able to gain a first down and run three plays before time expired.
Pearl River scored the game's only points of the first half on a 46-yard pass from Kobe Pierce to Da'Koreyon Payton with just 21 seconds to play in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
Glover rushed six times for 89 yards, but completed only 3-of-16 passes for 61 yards.
Ky'Yon Harris (Union) carried 13 times for 93 yards.
Defensively,
Delarrius Hayes (Magee) had 15 tackles, including 11 in the first half and one tackle for loss.
Cortland Battee (Florence) had 11 tackles and two TFLs and
Tay James (Mendenhall) had 10 tackles.
Ny'zavion McClendon (Lake) had five tackles and 2.5 TFLs and
Bryston Dixon (Bryston, Ala.) had five tackles and 1.5 TFLs.
Pierce completed 14-of-22 passes for 162 yards and rushed 16 times for 125 yards for PRCC. Franks carried 26 times for 111 yards. Payton had four receptions for 64 yards.
The Wildcats had 25 first downs compared to only nine for Jones. PRCC had 249 yards rushing, 162 yards passing and 411 yards of total offense. Jones had 204 yards rushing, 61 yards passing and 265 yards of total offense.
Pearl River ran 81 plays from scrimmage and the Bobcats had 45 snaps. The Wildcats dominated time of possession, 43:16 to 16:44.
The Wildcats end the year at 1-8 overall, 0-6 in division play.
