ELLISVILLE – Brendan Connolly has seen gradual improvement from his Jones College soccer team during three scrimmage matches in the month of August.
“Everything is going really well,” the third-year head coach of the Bobcats said. “All three games in preseason have been three good performances.”
Jones opened with a 6-2 loss to NAIA school William Carey University on Aug. 11. They then battled LSU-Alexandria to a 0-0 draw on Aug. 13 before posting an impressive 3-0 decision over Hinds on Aug. 20.
“The first game against William Carey was against a four-year college,” Connolly said. “A lot of times that is more about character building and team building. The performance was really positive for the most part. It was like a heavyweight going against a middleweight.
“We tightened up a few things against LSU-Alexandria and gave another really positive performance. It was a hot day and we dealt well with the conditions that day. We worked very hard in that game.
“Against Hinds, we treated it more as a regular-season opener. That’s how we wanted to perform going into the games on Friday (Aug. 24) and Monday (Aug. 27). We had a good effort and we were productive when we had our chances.”
The Bobcats begin regular season play with a pair of home games vs. East Central on Aug. 24 and Northwest on Aug. 27. Both games begin at 7 p.m. at Bobcat Soccer Field.
Connolly hopes to use the scrimmages as a springboard into regular season play, especially the win over Hinds.
“We scored early and rode our luck at times,” Connolly said of the win over the Eagles. “We scored at the right times and we scored at key times. We had key moments in the game where we made big plays. Our goalkeeper (Callum Harley) did well and several defenders made blocks. It was an all-around good team performance and we want to take that into the games on Friday and Monday.
“We have kind of divided the season into three parts with the preseason, these next two games and then start of (MACJC South) division play (Sept. 1 at Southwest).”
The Bobcats have 13 freshmen and nine sophomores on this year’s roster. Connolly is very pleased with the leadership shown by his sophomores.
“The sophomores who are returning are experienced and got to play a lot of minutes last year,” he said. “This is truly the first year since I’ve been head coach that we’ve had a good sophomore class coming back that can help lead the freshmen in the right way.”
The Bobcats have three sophomore team captains this season, including defender Nick Gibson (Sacred Heart), forward Thomas Carlile (Athgarvan, Ireland) and midfielder Glenn Waters (Dungarvan, Ireland).
“They have done a fantastic job so far,” Connolly said. “They really set the tone for us.”
Rounding out the sophomores are defenders Larry Gibson (Sacred Heart) and Lucas Middleton (Hemsworth, England), midfielders Davis Gibson (Sacred Heart) and Alfredo Enriquez (Oak Grove) and forwards Dalton Morgan (South Jones) and Kreider Henderson (North Pike).
The freshmen are goalkeepers Callum Harley (Whitley Bay, England) and Jonny Lorenzo (George County), defenders Adrian Mondragon (Northwest Rankin), Juan Lechuga (Laurel) and Brant Mullins (Franklin County), midfielders Cris Rodrigo (Northwest Rankin), Jordan Cochran (George County), Reggi Pech (Clarkdale) and Malachi Harrison (Northeast Jones) and forwards Adam Stone (Oak Grove), Steven Caston (Laurel), Luke Cummings (West Jones) and Justis Casey (Greene County).
Connolly said the team has been making progress heading in the regular season opener.
“They have all bought in to what I want them to do,” he said. “The team will decide how we will perform and every time we’ve stepped on the field so far they have worked extremely hard. I think they have outworked their opponents each time, which often leads to positive results.
“At the end of the season, I hope we will be considered a very hard-working team.”
Connolly is hopeful the Bobcats can make a run into postseason play, but he knows the team must be patient.
“I told the boys this already, like Mike Tyson said, ‘Everybody’s got a plan until you get punched in the face,’” he said. “We just have to get better every day. That’s how we are treating this season. In the past, I think we have gotten too far ahead of ourselves and have not been able to react to certain situations that arose.
“It’s just taking it day by day and game by game and just see where we are at the end of the season.”
Connolly knows the division race will be difficult once again.
“All four teams in the South are going to be improved,” he said. “Pearl River, Southwest, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Meridian are all going to be expecting big seasons. The competition will be strong.”
Connolly is being helped by a pair of volunteer assistant coaches, Kieran Pettigrew and Grant Adam.
“Kieran helped us and did a good job two years ago,” he said. “We are looking forward to having him back here this season. Grant is working primarily with keepers, but he has stepped up and helped us with other aspects of the team. Grant played at Pearl River and William Carey and he is familiar with the juco league.”
Connolly said the team will determine its own fate in 2018.
“I think we’ve got to define our own expectations as we go along,” he said. “Every day we are working harder and getting better. We will just see where we are at the end of the season. We will just take each game as it comes.”
After playing non-division foes East Central and Northwest to begin the regular season, the Bobcats go to Southwest on Sept. 1 to open division play.
The top three teams in the division qualify for the postseason.
