Storm delays junior college season another 2 weeks

The start of Mississippi's junior college football season has been delayed until Sept. 22 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The regular season will be reduced from nine to seven games. Weeks 1 and 2, when many teams were scheduled for interdivisional games, have been canceled. Week 3 (games of Sept. 15 or 17) will be played at the end of the schedule, with the start of the four-team playoffs pushed back a week. - College Football -

The school presidents made the decision during a conference call on Tuesday.All other athletic events are also postponed until the week of Sept. 18.

"There was quite a bit of damage done at schools all around," said Jim Southward, athletic commissioner for the community colleges. "The feeling of the presidents was to give people time to recuperate and make whatever restorations they can."That was the reasoning behind pushing the start back another week. We were pretty sure we couldn't play this week, and playing Week 3 would have been a hardship for a lot of folks." - College Football -

Southward said he is aware of some stadium damage at three schools, Gulf Coast in Perkinston, Pearl River in Poplarville and East Central in Decatur.

Jones County coach Parker Dykes said the stadium in Ellisville sustained minimal damage but parts of the campus were still without electricity early Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to the season," Dykes said, "but our minds haven't been on football. They've been on helping people out. - College Football -

"Our community got hit pretty hard. There's still a lot of folks without power or water."Jones hasn't practiced since Aug. 25. Dykes was unsure when they'd be able to get back on the field.

"The powers that be have made a good decision," Dykes said. "It gives us all an opportunity to get prepared. ... It'll give us almost two weeks to get the kids back in shape."

Under the reconfigured schedule, the regular season will now conclude the week of Oct. 30, with the playoffs beginning the week of Nov. 6. The top two teams from each division qualify.The changes will not affect the MACJC schools' eligibility for bowl games.

Pearl River, the defending national champion, was the preseason No. 1 in the NJCAA poll, and three other teams also were ranked. - College Football -

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