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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Jonathan McNair vs. Miss. Delta
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Football Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information

Bears come up short at Jones County

It was a case of 'close, but no cigar' for the Southwest Bears Thursday night as they dropped a tough 31-29 decision to the 5th-ranked Jones County Bobcats in Ellisville.
 
With the loss, the Bears dropped to 0-2 on the season and 0-1 in the MACJC's South Division. Jones County remained undefeated at 3-0 and 1-0.
 
The Bears dug themselves a hole early, falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter. Tevin Moore scored on runs of seven and two yards while Johnkill Skipper returned a Bears' fumble in the end zone for the third score. Cole Byrd kicked the PAT's.
 
The Bears picked up the only points of the second quarter. De' Angelo Ballard capped a short seven-play, 38-yard drive with a two-yard scamper into the end zone with 2:50 on the clock. Reed James booted the extra point to leave the Bobcats on top 21-7 at the half.
 
The third quarter belonged to the Bears. Freshman lineman Kevin Alce tackled quarterback Kenny Coleman in the end zone with14:05 on the clock to make the score 21-9.
 
Later in the quarter, a Ladarrius Slocum 51-yard punt return put the Bears in business at the Bobcats' five-yard line. Ballard then scampered into the end zone on the first play for his second score of the night. James' PAT made the score 21-16 with 9:00 still to play in the third.
 
Taking the ensuing kickoff at their own 19-yard line, the Bobcats answered with a touchdown of their own. With Coleman completing four of five passes on the drive, the home team moved down to the Bears' 12-yard line. D'Alex Rockingham completed the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run with 6:24 left. Byrd added the extra point to extend the Bobcats' lead back to 12 points, 28-16.
 
The Bears responded with a vengeance, scoring two touchdowns in less than a minute of each other to take a 29-28 lead at the end of the third quarter. Ballard's third score of the game, a one-yard jaunt into the end zone, and James' PAT made the score 28-23 with 2:34 on the clock. Nicholas McDonald then gave the Bears their only lead of the night when he intercepted a Coleman pass and returned it 15 yards to paydirt with 1:44 showing on the clock. A failed two-point conversion run left the Bears with a one-point advantage going into the final quarter.
 
Following McDonald's pick six, the Bobcats then put together what became the winning drive. Taking over on their own 23-yard line, they proceeded to march down to the Bears' 11. Byrd completed the 15-play, 77-yard drive with a 28-yard field goal to make the score 31-29 with 13:26 left in the game.
 
Try as they might, the Bears were unable to overcome the small deficit and the Bobcats managed to hold on for the win.
 
After the game, Southwest head coach Tucker Peavey was happy with the way his squad responded after falling behind 21-0. "That's the positive thing," he said. "We could have laid down easy, and some teams would have, and I think that gives you something to build on."
 
"We just can't play the way we (did) early in the game," he continued. "We've got to do a better job on offense, protecting, throwing and catching (the ball). They (Jones County) basically eliminated our running game by playing us man and we couldn't respond to it."
 
The Bears had 298 yards of offense on the night, 174 on the ground. Chris Jones carried the ball 26 times for 109 yards while Ballard registered 54 yards, and three touchdowns, on 12 carries.
 
Ballard and Tyler Shell combined to complete 10 of 25 passes for 124 yards. Ballard threw one interception. Jones hauled in four passes for 37 yards while Kelvin Williams had 33 yards on three catches.
 
The Bears recorded 15 first downs on the night, were penalized four times for 40 yards and one of four fumbles. Brandon Mancuso averaged 39 yards on eight punts.
 
The Bobcats totaled 426 yards of offense. Coleman led the way, completing 38 of 43 passes for 321 yards. He was intercepted once. Rockingham had 12 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown while Moore carried the ball 13 times for 38 yards and two scores.
 
The Bobcats had 23 first downs in the game, were penalized 13 times for 84 yards and recovered their only fumble. Patrick Ponder punted nine times for 37.6 yards.
 
Southwest returns to action on September 18 when they return home to host their arch-rivals, Co-Lin, at John I. Hurst Stadium. Co-Lin, ranked 11th in the latest NJCAA poll, defeated Mississippi Delta Thursday night, 50-0.
 
 
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