It was a night for the departing sophomores to shine, and two saved most of the best for last for the Southwest Mississippi Community College Bears.
Sophomore quarterback Stanley Jennings threw one touchdown and ran for another in the second half, and sophomore linebacker-turned-free safety Mychal Bailey intercepted one pass and helped break up another in the Bears’ 15-7 win over the Holmes Bulldogs in the teams’ season finale Thursday night at John I. Hurst Stadium.
Southwest finishes its season at 4-5, while Holmes drops to 2-7 on the campaign.
“It was a great win,” Southwest head coach Charles Anthony said. “It was led by our sophomores … and they did a fantastic job of getting ready.”
Bailey had the biggest responsibility of preparing for Thursday night’s game. The 5-foot-11, 193-pounder set aside his usual duties as linebacker to play free safety for the Bears. The results were positive.
Bailey halted a fourth-quarter Holmes drive when he stepped in front of a receiver to intercept a pass from Bulldogs’ quarterback Dex Hopkins at the Southwest 18-yard line.
After a Bears’ fumble gave Holmes one final chance in the game’s final minute, Bailey teamed with freshman cornerback J.D. Ratliff to break up a fourth-down pass to preserve the Bears’ win.
“Defensively, I felt like free safety was going to be a key to win the game,” Anthony said. “I moved him (to free safety) because I felt like he would make a lot more plays against this type of team than he would at linebacker.
“For playing the position for two days,” Anthony added, “it wasn’t a bad job.”
The defensive adjustment was just the beginning of Bailey’s work. In the first quarter, he made his season debut at quarterback in the newly-installed Bearcat offense, the Bears’ version of the Wildcat offense, which has gained in popularity the past several years.
“We just did that because he’s one of the better players,” Anthony said, “and we were trying to get the ball into the hands of the better players.”
Bailey, who has committed to the University of Kentucky next season, didn’t attempt a pass, but rushed 10 times for 34 yards, including a 26-yard sprint down the Southwest sideline to the Bulldogs’ 6.
The run set up freshman kicker Brandon Thomas’ 21-yard field goal that gave the Bears a 3-0 lead with 5:44 left in the opening period.
That turned out to be the only scoring in a sloppy first half in which the two teams combined for 89 yards total offense — 56 by the Bears — and 11 punts.
The game appeared to take a strange turn in the Bulldogs’ favor when the Holmes kickoff was pushed backward after going just 10 yards. The Bulldogs recovered the nature-induced onside kick, giving them possession at their own 40-yard line.
The Bears’ defense, however, stood put through the unexpected challenge, and on the heels of sophomore defensive end Dajuan Dyson’s stop of Holmes running back Jamarcus Jackson for a loss on second down, forced a Bulldogs’ punt.
Holmes, however, found the end zone on its next drive.
After a high snap on Southwest’s punt resulted in the Bulldogs taking over at the Bears’ 33, Holmes took six plays and the lead when Hopkins scrambled to his left and found wide receiver David Hampton in the west end of the end zone to give Holmes a 7-3 lead with 8:17 to go in the third quarter.
The Bears answered with a scoring drive of their own. Southwest took 12 plays to go 60 yards and took back the lead when Jennings looked through the rain and found freshman receiver Travis King on a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the Bears a 9-7 advantage with 1:52 left in the third. The extra-point attempt sailed wide left.
Holmes appeared on the verge of regaining the lead until Ratliff opened the fourth quarter by stepping in front of tight end Johnny Thurman for an interception at the Bears’ 15 and returned it 24 yards to the 39.
It was Ratliff’s second interception of the game and gave the freshman cornerback a junior college nation-leading 10 picks this season.
“(Thurman) is 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 and J.D.’s 5-foot-9,” Anthony said. “He’s continued to make big plays.”
The interception set up Southwest’s ensuing eight-play, 61-yard drive, capped when Jennings broke several tackles through the middle of the Holmes defense en route to a 23-yard touchdown run to make it 15-7 with 10:29 to play.
Jennings was just 2-of-13 passing for 17 yards, but he did not throw an interception and rushed 21 times for 88 yards and his score.
Anthony said the departure of Jennings, who has been scouted by several Division I programs including Tennessee, and sophomore backup quarterback Robby Robinson will leave the Bears looking for a new captain on offense for 2010.
“All our receivers are coming back. All our defensive backs are coming back,” Anthony said.
“The biggest key is finding a quarterback. Once that happens, all the pieces will fall into place.”
