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BOBCATS DEFY SEGREGATION
History
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Jones played its first junior college football game in the fall of 1929 with J. W. Elmore as the first head coach. It was the only season in the college’s history that the team did not win a game. JCJC has fielded a football team every year since 1929, with the exception of 1943 when Mississippi suspended athletics for one year due to World War II.
The first football field, called “The Rock Pile,” was located where the J.B. Young Business and Career Center is now located. In 1930, the team moved to a new field located between the D.O. Thoms Building and Howard Gymnasium. Named Bush-Young Stadium in 1934 after JCJC president M.P. Bush and athletic director Earl W. Young, Bush-Young Stadium was one of the first stadiums in Mississippi junior college football to have lights. A field house located west of BushYoung Stadium was built in 1980. Fire destroyed that field house in the spring of 2002.
On September 27, 2003, the Bobcats played their first game in the current stadium. A field house was constructed next to the stadium and was completed for the 2004 season. Also in September 2004, the field was dedicated and named for long-time Bobcat Head Coach Sim Cooley.
Throughout the years, Jones has had the privilege of playing in many bowl games, but the most prestigious are the 1955 and 1977 Junior Rose Bowls in Pasadena, CA. In 1955, JCJC made history competing in the Jr. Rose Bowl against Compton (CA) Junior College. At that time in history, no Mississippi colleges or universities had ever played an integrated team. Media and some government officials put pressure on Jones not to play in the game. In fact, some tried to get the legislature not to appropriate money to JCJC if they participated. However, the Bobcats wanted to play and have a chance at winning a national championship. Jones made the trip to Pasadena where they lost to Compton 22-13 in front of 57,000 spectators, the largest crowd in the history of that bowl. In 1977, the Bobcats were again invited to play in the Junior Rose Bowl. Their opponent was Pasadena City College. The Bobcats were defeated 38-9.
There have been many football coaches at JCJC since football began competing in 1929. However, Sim Cooley’s 27 years make him the longest serving football head coach. His 187-92-5 record places him sixth on the list of winningest coaches in the National Junior College Athletic Association.
The JCJC overall compiled record is 550-301-27.
Bobcat Bowl games include: Junior Rose Bowl, 1955, 1977; Garland Bowl (TX), 1978; East Bowl, 1981, 1983; Roaring Ranger Bowl (TX), 1984; Texas Shrine Bowl, 1993; Golden Isles Bowl, 1998, 2004; and Heart of Texas Bowl, 2001.
JCJC has been the state champion or co-champion 13 times. Those teams are: 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1955, 1964, 1968, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1998, and 2001. Two teams also received national championship honors. The JC Grid Wire named the 1968 team its national champion, while Mike Gottfried Magazine selected the 1998 team as its national champion. Additionally, the 1998 team is the only JCJC team to win 12 games in a season.
JCJC head coaches, and their years of service, are: J. W. Elmore, 1929-30; Bill Denson, 1931-36; John Read, 1937-44; Melvin Vines, 1945-46; B. L. “Country” Graham, 1947-49; Paul Davis, 1950-54; Jim Clark, 1955-56; Milton White, 1957-58; A. B. Howard, 1959-60; Sim Cooley, 1961-1987; Elmer Higginbotham, 1988-1991; Parker Dykes, 1992-2005; Eddie Pierce, 20062011; Ray Perkins, 2012-2013; David Thornton, 2014-2015; Steve Buckley, 2016-present.
and Mississippi Bowl, 2018.
Football Team of 1929-30
JCJC BOBCATS DEFY SEGREGATION
Jones fi nished the 1955 regular season undefeated and hoped to get an invite to play in the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif . The year before, another Mississippi junior college team—Hinds—had played in the same game and defeated El Camino Junior College . JCJC received a bid to play the Compton Junior College Tartars with much hoopla and fanfare . Then-Lt . Gov . Carroll Gartin, a Jones alum, said he would travel to Pasadena as the school's number-one fan . But everything changed for Jones when offi cials discovered that Compton had black starting players . At that time, no Mississippi college or university had played an integrated team in any sport, and there was an unwritten rule barring teams from doing so . Media around the state put pressure on the Bobcats not to play the Tartars . In a front-page editorial, Major Fredrick Sullens, editor of the Jackson Daily News, called for the Mississippi Legislature to deny funds to Jones from the biennial junior college appropriations if they accepted the bid . Even the school's band was aff ected, and the Covington County Board of Supervisors withdrew its support . The Chamber of Commerce of Pomona, Calif ., stepped in and sent the band a check for $250 for travel expenses . Instead of well wishes for a national championship, Jones was hit with a parting shot by Sullens . He wrote: "A defeat will not cause mourning in our home state . The decision to play against Negroes is the most unfortunate thing to happen since the infamous Supreme Court ruling . Nothing but avarice and cold-blooded greed for a share of the gate receipts could have promoted such action ." Jones was not out to make a political statement or upset the status quo . The Bobcats only wanted to play for a national championship and to decide, on the fi eld, which team was the best . The press spoke with Bobcat co-captains Kenneth Schultze and Paul Hathcock at the time . "As long as the rules of junior colleges say that Negroes can play, we're gonna play 'em," Schultze said . "Each Negro is just another ball player, and we are not worried about who is on the team ." "It's an honor to play in the Junior Rose Bowl," Hathcock added . "I have no objections whatever to playing a team that has Negroes on it ." Jones lost to Compton 22-13 that December night in front of 57,000 spectators in a clean-played game that featured no personal fouls or racial bitterness . In Mississippi, the sky did not fall, and the sun came out the next day . Eight years later, in 1963, the Mississippi State University Bulldogs sneaked out of state under cover of darkness to play Loyola University Chicago in the NCAA basketball tournament . The Bulldogs had won the SEC for the third year in a row but had declined to go to the tournament the fi rst two years . While MSU decided to hide from controversy and sneak out to do what was right—even with 85 to 87 percent of the student body in favor of going—Jones faced criticism head on and played for a title anyway . The Bobcats did not win a national title, but the team did show far more intestinal fortitude then its peers of the same time period .
