By Shawn Wansley, JCJC Sports Information Director
ELLISVILLE
September 05, 2008 10:42 am
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Eddie Pierce gave his Jones County Junior College Bobcats a passing grade for their performance in last week’s 38-7 whipping of the Itawamba Community College Indians.
“We came out and we played fast and we played hard,” Pierce said Thursday afternoon in the Bobcat Fieldhouse. “I thought we played pretty smart, too. We had some good things happen to us, but of course, we made some good things happen. I was really proud of them.”
The Bobcats picked up 11 of their 14 first downs in the first half of the game vs. ICC. On the other side of the ball, JCJC held Itawamba without a first down in the first half and limited the Indians to just 122 yards of total offense.
But, this week offers another challenge for Jones.
The Bobcats, ranked No. 7 in the NJCAA/JCfootball.com rankings, host the East Mississippi Community College Lions at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field. The game will be aired on WGDQ-93.1 FM and on the internet at www.jcjc.edu. Air time will be at 6:30 p.m. with Lance Pittman handling the play-by-play and Mark Easley providing color commentary.
The Lions opened the season with a solid, 28-9 decision over Co-Lin Community College last week, as they outscored the Wolves 28-3 in the second half.
EMCC is under the guidance of first-year head coach Buddy Stephens, who served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Pearl River Community College, for the past seven seasons. Stephens was co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach under Tim Hatten for the past six years.
“They threw it all over the field the other night,” said Pierce of the Lions. “They only ran it three times in the first half. They are much, much improved. They’ve got some great athletes with an excellent coaching staff. We are going to really, really have to play hard.
“East Mississippi has done a great job. Coach Stephens and his staff have recruited well. We will really have to be on our game, I tell you.”
In JCJC’s victory last week, Killona, La., sophomore quarterback Early James completed 13-of-19 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, while Mize sophomore running back Maurice Ducksworth rushed 17 times for 52 yards. Avondale, La., sophomore running back Daniel Borne scored three touchdowns, which leads the state after the first week of play. Tristan Purifoy, a freshman from Hanceville, Ala., had four catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.
The Bobcats led 35-0 at halftime and pretty much coasted in the second half.
“Early did a good job and the offensive line protected him well,” said Pierce. “I would have liked to have run the ball a little better, but we will get there. They are working hard on it this week and (offensive line) Coach (Ron) Brewer does an excellent job with them.
“When you are up 35-0, the thing you want to do is to come out and finish,” he said. “I would have liked to have scored another touchdown, but we did not. So, we just have to keep digging the best we can. But, we played hard and kept the ball.”
On defense, Bartow, Fla., linebacker Demorio Leverett recovered two fumbles, returning one of them 30 yards for a score, while Geneva, Ala., sophomore end Riley Flowers registered two quarterback sacks. Mize freshman linebacker D.A. Autry led the team with eight tackles, including seven solos.
Again, Pierce could not find much fault with the defense.
“We played good, solid defense and that’s what we wanted to do,” he said. “We wanted to get after them and go to the ball and gang tackle. We had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and should have intercepted two passes. If we intercept one of those passes, we go in for a touchdown.”
Laurel sophomore Tyler Caldwell punted five times for a 42.6 yard average, while Quitman freshman Jacob Chancellor was 5-of-5 on extra points and booted a 24-yard field goal. Laurel freshman Rafael Pollard returned four punts for a 7.3 average.
Pierce was quite pleased with the play of the special teams, especially Pollard.
“We punted well and kicked well, but I was real proud of that freshman back there catching punts,” said Pierce. “Rafael looked like a veteran. That’s one thing you always worry about – going into a game with a freshman punt returner. But, he did a super job for us.”
Because the Bobcats were in control from the start last week, they were able to play quite a few players. Pierce said that was important.
“We got to play a lot of kids. That was the main thing,” he said. “We will be counting on some of those freshmen later in the year. They got a lot of playing time and a lot of reps the other night.”
East Mississippi will pose several problems for the Bobcats.
Lions’ quarterback Randall Mackey, a freshman from Port Sulphur, La., completed 13-of-24 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns last week. He also rushed for 38 yards, including a 21-yard scoring run. Starkville freshman running back Pat Shed ran 12 times for 90 yards.
Defensively, EMCC sophomore strong safety Alex Hill of West Point was named the Region 23/MACJC Defensive Player of the Week for his effort vs. Co-Lin. He intercepted two passes, broke up two more and had six tackles.
Pierce said Stephens does a lot of the things he did when he was at Pearl River, but has implemented a few wrinkles.
“It is a mixture of things,” he said. “Their offensive coordinator (Mike Volarvich) came over from Southwest and I am sure they are taking the best of both worlds. They looked pretty good to me the other night.
“It just gets tougher every week. We never seem to catch a break.”
While Hurricane Gustav caused some flooding problems on the JCJC campus and forced classes to be canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday, Pierce said the Bobcats were able to go through their routine and prepare for East Mississippi with few disruptions.
“Our kids are pretty resilient,” he said. “We came back Sunday and practiced in the PE Building on Monday and Tuesday because of the rain. We were able to get outside on Wednesday. We really have not missed a beat. We carried on this week just like we normally would have.”
Three Bobcat defensive players were affected by the storm, however.
Starting linebacker Eric Lichtenstein of Pearlington and starting defensive tackle Caleb McQueen of Bay St. Louis, both St. Stanislaus High School graduates, did not make it back to campus until Wednesday. Defensive end Tyrunn Walker of Westgate High School in New Iberia, La., had not made it back to school as of Thursday morning.
“You just can’t help those things,” added Pierce.
The Bobcats open up South Division play next week on the road. JCJC will travel to Wesson on Thursday, Sept. 11, to meet Co-Lin. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. East Mississippi will visit Holmes next week.
STATEWIDE STATISTICS
- Jones is ninth in the state in rushing offense (67.0 ypg) and second in rushing defense (30.0 ypg).
- Jones is sixth in passing offense (188.0 ypg) and first in passing defense (92.0 ypg).
- The Bobcats are ninth in total offense (255.0 ypg) and first in total defense (122.0 ypg).
- Jones is tied for third in turnover margin (+1).
- Daniel Borne leads the state in scoring (non-kickers) with three touchdowns for 18 points.
- Maurice Ducksworth is 10th in rushing (52.0 ypg).
- Early James is sixth in passing (175.0 ypg).
- Darius Dear is 12th in receiving yards (42.0 ypg).
- Tristan Purifoy is 10th in receptions (4.0 rpg).
- Jacob Chancellor leads the state in scoring (kickers) with 8 points.
- Tyler Caldwell is third in punting (42.6 ypp).
- Rafael Pollard is fourth in punt returns (7.3 ypr).
- Riley Flowers is tied for second in sacks (2.0 spg).
- D.A. Autry is ninth in tackles (7 solos, 1 assist).
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