Chris Jones' effort not enough as Bears fall to 6th-ranked Jones County

Despite the best efforts of Chris Jones, the Southwest Bears suffered a 31-10 defeat to 6^th-ranked Jones County Thursday night in their final home game of the season. Jones, a freshman running back from Tylertown, carried the ball 25 times for 211 yards and a touchdown.

With the loss, the Bears fell to 2-6 on the season and 1-4 in the MACJC's South Division. The Bobcats moved to 7-1and 5-1 and clinched first place in the South.

"Our players play hard," said Southwest head coach Tucker Peavey after the game. "That was the number one team in the South (Division) and I thought we were battling them. We had some turnovers, but they had some, too and they were able to overcome them."

Peavey said he got a "great effort out of some of the guys, obviously Chris Jones. (All) the running backs played hard. De'Angelo (Ballard) played hard. Defensively, we gave up a couple of passes that we thought we could defend a little bit better. But, again, these guys are playing hard and that's all you can ask of them."

The Bobcats held a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. A 13-play, 82-yard drive ended when Justin Harris scored on a four-yard run with 6:14 on the clock. Less than three minutes later, with 3:35 to play, quarterback Steven Swindle tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Quartez Cooks to close out a short four-play, 36-yard drive. Grant McLaurin kicked both extra points.

After forcing a Jones County punt, the Bears put their first points on the board with 13:18 to play before the half. Jones did the honors, diving in from the one-yard line, to close out the eight-play, 66 yard drive. Michal McDaniel booted the PAT.

An interception led to the Bobcats' final points of the half. Taking over at the Southwest 36-yard line, the visitors 3:06 to go the distance with Thamaz Taylor closing the march on a 13-yard scamper to paydirt. With 4:27 on the clock. McLaurin notched the extra point to give the Bobcats a 21-7 lead at intermission.

A misplayed punt put Jones County in excellent position to score their only points of the third quarter. Taking over at the Southwest 19-yard line, the Bobcats needed only three plays to reach the end zone. Kenneth Coleman connected with Cooks on a 17-yard scoring pass with 11:45 on the clock. McLaurin's extra point made the score 28-7.

With Jones carrying the ball four times for 69 yards on the Bears' ensuing drive, the home team added their final points of the night to make the score 28-10 at the end of the third stanza. Starting from their own 15-yard line, the Bears marched to the Bobcats' nine before the drive stalled. McDaniel then moved onto the field and booted a 28-yard field goal with 7:10 on the clock.

A 45-yard field goal from McLaurin with 8:10 to play in the game gave the Bobcats their final points of the night.

Behind Jones, the Bears ran for 236 yards in the game. Jamal Hall added 31 yards on 15 carries.

De'Angelo Ballard completed five of 15 passes for 61 yards. He was intercepted three times. Cordarius Davis was good on one for five passes for six yards. Kelvin Williams had three receptions for 33 yards, Jones two for 11 yards and Bodarius Johnson had one catch for 23 yards.

The Bears picked up 15 first downs in the game and were penalized three times for 21 yards. Taylor Smith averaged 32.8 yards on four punts.

Even though the Bears may have had one of their best offensive games of the season, statistically, Peavey said "you've got to score points. I'd rather have a whole lot worse stats and 35 points than I would what we had tonight. To say it was our best night, I don't know, because we just don't hit on all cylinders. We've got to get the ball into the end zone."

Harris topped the Jones County offense with 77 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Taylor ran the ball four times for 26 yards and a score.

Before leaving the game with an injury, Swindle completed seven of 10 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. Coleman completed seven of 17 passes for 42 yards and a score. Cooks caught three passes for 45 yards and had both touchdown receptions.

The Bobcats registered 17 first downs on the night. They were penalized five times for 47 yards and lost one of two fumbles. McLaurin punted seven times for a 39.6 yard average.

Southwest closes out the season on October 24 as they travel to Wesson to face their arch-rivals, Co-Lin. Kickoff is set for 7:00 in Stone Stadium.

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Chris Jones' effort not enough as Bears fall to 6th-ranked Jones County