ELLISVILLE — A 5-4 record doesn’t exactly jump off the page, but Jones College was probably a little better than its record showed last season.
The Bobcats outscored their opponents 248-191, averaged more than 360 yards of offense per game and were rarely completely out of a football game. Three of their four losses came by 11 points or fewer, including a four-point loss to Mississippi Gulf Coast and a three-point loss at Southwest Mississippi. Jones also finished the year with a win over rival Pearl River.
The problem was turning competitive games into wins. Jones finished just 2-4 in MACCC play, and in a league where there isn’t much separating the middle of the pack from the teams playing for championships in November, those close losses added up quickly.
That’s what makes 2026 interesting in Ellisville.
Jones isn’t starting over. The Bobcats return quarterback Jevarion Glover, along with linebackers Delarrius Hayes and Ny’zavion McClendon, return specialist Tyree Barnett and several other players who were getting meaningful snaps as freshmen last fall. Head coach Lytrel Pollard also brought in another class filled with Mississippi talent, including plenty of familiar names from around the Pine Belt.
The pieces are there. Now Jones has to turn them into wins.
Year Two for Lytrel Pollard
Jones College head coach Lytrel Pollard enters his second season leading the Bobcats in 2026, looking to turn last year’s close losses into wins and push Jones back into the MACCC championship picture.
Pollard is entering his second full season as Jones’ head coach, although he’s been around the program much longer than that. He served as the Bobcats’ defensive coordinator beginning in 2019 before taking over the program in December 2024.
Pine Belt football fans probably remember Pollard from his playing days at Southern Miss. He finished his Golden Eagle career with 274 tackles and was part of back-to-back Conference USA championship teams. His coaching career has taken him through Southern Miss, Memphis, Mississippi College, UT Martin, Marshall and Mississippi Gulf Coast before eventually bringing him to Ellisville.
You can see Pollard’s defensive background when you look at last year’s numbers. Jones allowed 21.2 points per game and held opponents to 3.7 yards per rushing attempt. The Bobcats allowed only 13 rushing touchdowns in nine games. It wasn’t a dominant defense every Thursday night, but it was usually good enough to keep Jones within striking distance.
There is a change on offense this fall. Dominique Sullivan has been promoted to offensive coordinator after coaching the quarterbacks last season. That’s another familiar name for Southern Miss fans. The Taylorsville native played receiver for the Golden Eagles and was part of the 2011 Conference USA championship team before eventually getting into coaching.
Sullivan inherits an offense with a quarterback who already showed last season that he can give defenses problems in several different ways.
Jevarion Glover Gives Jones Something to Build Around
If Jones is going to make a jump this season, Jevarion Glover will probably have a lot to do with it.
The 6-foot-4 quarterback from Greenwood completed 111 of 176 passes for 1,189 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman. Those aren’t eye-popping passing numbers, but Glover’s value becomes much clearer when you add what he did with his legs. He rushed 98 times for 539 yards and nine touchdowns, finishing his first college season with 1,728 yards of total offense and 14 touchdowns.
There were nights when he looked capable of taking over a game himself. Against Holmes, Glover threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 69 yards and two scores. Against Mississippi Gulf Coast, he ran for 129 yards.
That gives Sullivan plenty to work with.
The next step is becoming more consistent through the air. Jones threw only seven touchdown passes as a team last season. Glover doesn’t have to become a quarterback who throws it 40 times every Thursday, but if he can make defenses pay for loading up to stop his legs, the entire offense becomes harder to handle.
He already has plenty of experience carrying an offense. Glover finished his career at Amanda Elzy with more than 7,400 passing yards and more than 4,200 rushing yards. He isn’t suddenly learning how to be a dual-threat quarterback in Ellisville.
Now he’s learning how to do it against college defenses.
Who Takes Over the Backfield?
One of the biggest offensive questions is at running back.
Ky’Yon Harris led Jones with 650 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last season, and replacing that production won’t fall on one player automatically.
CJ Rush is one of the names worth watching. Rush carried only 32 times as a freshman but turned those opportunities into 150 yards and two touchdowns. Before arriving at Jones, the Philadelphia High School product rushed for 1,510 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior and averaged 9.6 yards per carry.
Jones also has Santae McWilliams Jr., who recorded 52 carries last season, while newcomer Terrell Surtain Jr. arrives from Warren Easton High School in New Orleans.
Glover is obviously going to remain part of the running game. That’s one of the things that makes him dangerous. Jones just doesn’t want to reach a point where the quarterback has to be its most dependable runner every week.
If Rush, McWilliams, Surtain or some combination of the three can replace Harris’ production, it would take a lot of pressure off Glover.
Get the Football to Tyree Barnett
Here’s one player I’d like to see Jones find more ways to use.
Tyree Barnett didn’t put up huge receiving numbers last season, catching five passes for 37 yards. His work on special teams told a completely different story.
Barnett averaged 28.7 yards on 11 kickoff returns and nearly 10 yards per punt return. He also took a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown against Pearl River.
That’s the kind of speed you don’t want standing on the sideline.
Barnett was a 1,000-yard receiver at Hattiesburg High School, where he caught 52 passes for nine touchdowns and averaged nearly 20 yards per reception. He was a three-star prospect and at one point was committed to Southern Miss.
Jones doesn’t necessarily need to force-feed him 10 catches per game, but it would be surprising if Sullivan didn’t look for more ways to get Barnett involved. Put him in motion. Throw him a screen. Give him a deep shot. Let him return kicks.
Just get the football in his hands and see what happens.
Somebody Has to Replace TK Keyes
The receiving room has another major question after losing TK Keyes, who was having one of the better seasons by an MACCC receiver before an injury cut his year short. Keyes caught 31 passes for 582 yards and two touchdowns in six games and was averaging 97 receiving yards per game.
Replacing that production won’t be easy.
One returning player who could take a bigger role is Kaiden Smith. The former Oak Grove standout caught only 12 passes last season, but he turned those catches into 321 yards and three touchdowns. That’s 26.8 yards every time he caught the football.
That number gets your attention.
Jones also has some new options. Jet Henderson comes over from Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg, Trent Clark arrives from Taylorsville and Jalen Jones joins the Bobcats after previously playing at Northwest Mississippi.
There may not be a proven No. 1 receiver on the roster entering the opener. That doesn’t mean one won’t emerge.
Delarrius Hayes Could Be the Face of the Defense
If Glover is the name to know on offense, Delarrius Hayes might be the one on defense.
Hayes was all over the field as a freshman. The Magee product finished with 60 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. He closed the season with 15 tackles against Pearl River and earned honorable mention All-MACCC recognition.
None of that should be particularly surprising to anyone who watched him at Magee. Hayes recorded an incredible 183 tackles as a high school senior and was named Region 6-3A Defensive Player of the Year.
Some guys just seem to find the football.
Hayes looks like one of them.
He now enters his sophomore year already comfortable in Pollard’s defense, and another season like the one he had as a freshman could put him on the radar of plenty of four-year programs.
Jones Has Experience Beside Him
Hayes isn’t the only returning linebacker.
Ny’zavion McClendon started seven games as a freshman and finished with 36 tackles, five tackles for loss, an interception, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Put the two together and Jones returns 96 tackles and 14 tackles for loss in the middle of its defense.
That’s valuable in junior college football, where coaches are constantly replacing half a roster.
The Bobcats also added former Southern Miss linebacker Malachi Henderson, while Donte Booth comes over from East Central. Freshmen such as O’Rhyun Lang and Jaquan Thompson give Pollard additional options.
Linebacker shouldn’t be a position where Jones is scrambling to find answers.
It could be one of the strengths of this team.
The Pine Belt Is All Over This Roster
For local football fans, this might be the best part about watching Jones.
The roster feels like a Pine Belt high school football reunion.
Jamar Pittman, Kelton McLaurin, Kaiden Smith and offensive lineman Peyton Rahming all came through Oak Grove. Tyree Barnett played at Hattiesburg. Jet Henderson comes from PCS. Trey Bridges is a Laurel product. Malik Woodland and Carson Lyons come from Northeast Jones, while Morris Ducksworth played at South Jones.
Keep going and you’ll find players from Perry Central, Sumrall, Seminary, Taylorsville, Wayne County, Bay Springs and Collins.
That’s part of what makes a Thursday night at Bobcat Stadium worth the drive.
These aren’t necessarily players Pine Belt fans are discovering for the first time. A lot of them were playing against each other on Friday nights only a year or two ago.
Now they’re wearing the same uniform in Ellisville.
What Would Make 2026 a Success?
Jones doesn’t need some massive rebuild to become a contender.
That’s what makes this season interesting.
The Bobcats were already competitive last year. They lost to Gulf Coast by four points and Southwest by three. They averaged more than 360 yards of offense and had a defense that generally held up well against the run.
They just didn’t finish enough drives or enough close games.
Jones reached the red zone 36 times last season and scored 24 touchdowns on those trips. The passing game produced only seven touchdowns all year.
That’s where the improvement has to come.
If Glover takes another step as a passer, Jones becomes much harder to defend. If Rush or another running back can replace Harris, Glover won’t have to carry so much of the rushing load. If Barnett becomes a bigger part of the offense and Smith continues turning catches into chunk plays, suddenly there are several different ways to move the football.
On defense, Hayes and McClendon give Pollard an experienced pair of linebackers to build around, and there are sophomores scattered throughout the secondary who have already been through an MACCC season.
This doesn’t feel like a team starting over.
It feels like a team that was a handful of plays away from having a very different 2025 season.
Now those freshmen are sophomores. Glover has a year under his belt. Pollard has a year as head coach behind him. And another talented group of Pine Belt players has arrived in Ellisville.
The margin for error in the MACCC will still be tiny.
But if Jones can turn a few of last year’s close losses into wins, the Bobcats could be playing for a lot more than a winning record by the time October rolls around.
From Ellisville to the FBS
One of the best ways to measure what Jones College can do for a player is to look at where former Bobcats are playing now.
There are several former Jones players on FBS rosters in 2026, including a pair at Ole Miss. Cedrick Beavers, a Taylorsville product, is entering his fifth season with the Rebels and is listed as a cornerback after coming through Jones College. Raymond Collins, a Gulfport native, is also on the Ole Miss roster at linebacker after spending time in Ellisville. Both are examples of players who used Jones as part of the path to SEC football.
Another familiar Pine Belt name is Chase Pinkston. The former Oak Grove standout is now at Memphis, where he is listed as a redshirt sophomore safety. Memphis’ 2026 roster lists Jones College as his previous school, giving the Bobcats another former player currently competing at the FBS level.
2026 Jones College Football Schedule
Thursday, Aug. 27 — vs. No. 3 Northwest Mississippi — 7:00 p.m.
Ellisville, Miss.
Thursday, Sept. 3 — at Coahoma — 6:30 p.m.
Clarksdale, Miss.
Thursday, Sept. 10 — vs. Northeast Mississippi — 7:00 p.m.
Ellisville, Miss.
Thursday, Sept. 17 — vs. Pearl River — 7:00 p.m.
Ellisville, Miss. — Hall of Fame Game
Thursday, Sept. 24 — at No. 9 Copiah-Lincoln — 6:30 p.m.
Wesson, Miss.
Saturday, Oct. 3 — vs. No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast — 2:00 p.m.
Ellisville, Miss. — Homecoming
Thursday, Oct. 8 — at RV Itawamba — 7:00 p.m.
Fulton, Miss.
Thursday, Oct. 15 — at Southwest Mississippi — 7:00 p.m.
Summit, Miss.
Thursday, Oct. 22 — vs. East Central — 7:00 p.m.
Ellisville, Miss. — William Carey University Night
Thursday, Oct. 29 — at RV Hinds — 6:30 p.m.
Raymond, Miss.
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