Here are your Jones County Week 3 predictions as picked by James Pugh.
Oak Grove at Laurel
Learn from Week 2 and more on.
I can’t say for certainty that Breland’s message to his team late Saturday night was those exact words, but it must be the lesson for Laurel if they want to avoid the same fate in Week 3 that it had in Week 2. Hattiesburg’s star quarterback and Memphis commit Julian Conner torched Laurel’s defense with four scores, 218 yards rushing and another 119 passing this past Saturday night in the 97th annual Little Brown Jug game and resulted in a 41-20 loss.
Week 3 could be more of the same if Laurel fails to stop, or at least slow down, Oak Grove quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. The Georgia commit led offense has put up 90 points in two games thus far.
Prediction: Oak Grove 35, Laurel 17.
West Harrison at South Jones
Week 2 dangled the bait and in the last second pulled it away. South Jones nearly won its first game of the season last Friday night at Hancock, only to see it washed away in an overtime loss. I’m sure that pain is still fresh for everyone included wearing the red and blue.
They say the night is darkest just before the dawn, and Week 3 could be a ray of light that makes all things better – for the time being.
West Harrison also is coming off a loss, and it’s only win of the season thus far is a one-point win in Week 1 over Bay High, who hasn’t had a winning football program in years. So the good news for South Jones is this: Week 3 is a new chance to wash the blue away.
Prediction: South Jones 24, West Harrison 17.
West Jones at Quitman
I’m sure this game has been marked on the calendar for nearly a year now. It’s the game West Jones didn’t seem to show up for in 2017, and it paid a high price. It was definitely the Mustangs worst loss of the season. One good thing though did come of it, West Jones didn’t let this one game define its season, and it fared rather well from that point on.
Right now, West Jones is on a good high. It impressed folks (mainly defensively) in Week 1, despite a loss, and last Friday night it handed county rival Northeast Jones one of those old fashion “butt-whuppings.”
But now is not the time to live in past glory, especially if West Jones doesn’t want a repeat of last year vs. Quitman. Of course, I’m positive Scott Pierson has already relayed a similar message to his team already.
Prediction: West Jones 28, Quitman 7.
Collins at NEJ
I can confidently say one thing for sure about Friday night in The Jungle – the Tigers will win. Now, as to which Tiger team will win, that remains to be unseen.
Northeast Jones has been hard for me to gauge in these first two weeks. Week 1 looked promising, Week 2, on the other hand, did not. The Tigers couldn’t find any rhythm last Friday night against West Jones. Part of that has to do with the defensive line West Jones has comprised this year – probably the best in 5A football south of West Point – but I still expected to see a little more from the Tigers on offensive than I saw.
Collins is a likely contender in 2A this year so Friday night will not be easy. The Tigers from across the way are a better team than they were a year ago when the two cubs met on the gridiron.
One thing is for sure though regarding this year’s “Tiger fight” – Northeast Jones is a lot healthier than it was a year ago at this time.
Prediction: Collins 21, Northeast Jones 20.
