It's off to Little Rock for Rangers

Photo by Lester Murray SACKED! — Kilgore College's Matt Jones (top) and a teammate pull down Blinn quarterback Terrance Cain. The Rangers held Blinn, the Southwest Junior College Football Conference's top offense, to just 248 yards last weekend in a 20-17 KC overtime win. The Rangers (2-2 overall this season, 1-1 in conference play) visit Arkansas Baptist College on Saturday, a 3 p.m. kickoff. If you're the Kilgore College Rangers football program, how in the world do you top last week?

R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium was the focal point of the junior college football world, as it often is, as the top-ranked Blinn Buccaneers came to town for a Southwest Junior College Football Conference game. And, as it has happened on several occasions, the Rangers gave Blinn all it could handle and more, knocking off the No. 1 Bucs, 20-17, in three physical overtimes.

Now, the Rangers have to take that act back on the road. And it's not just a rock's throw away.

It's Little Rock.

Kilgore College (2-2 overall, 1-1 in SWJCFC play) visits new conference member Arkansas Baptist College (2-3) on Saturday, a 3 p.m. kickoff. In fact, it's the first 3 p.m. kickoff of the year -- the Rangers' first four games have been 7 p.m. starts. That means coach J.J. Eckert and his team will have to shake up their routine: leave early, pregame meal early, be ready to go four hours earlier.

But get a win, and the Rangers are very much in the thick of things in the regular-season conference race.

It's tight right now, anyway, because it's early. KC lost its conference opener Sept. 20 to Navarro, then helped Navarro, in a roundabout way, last weekend by beating Blinn. The loss allowed Navarro to move up to No. 1 in the NJCAA poll (see the regular sports section in today's paper) and also allowed Navarro and Trinity Valley to share the conference's top spot - each of those teams has a 2-0 record. That will change this week, as TVCC visits Navarro in Corsicana.

KC, Tyler, Blinn, and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M all have 1-1 marks, and Arkansas Baptist is 0-2, as is Cisco. This weekend, TJC plays at Blinn, and NEO visits Cisco, all 3 p.m. kickoffs.

Eckert's focus, though, will be on how to leave Little Rock with victory.

Since the Rangers have two freshmen alternating at quarterback, they'll likely try to get tailbacks LaRon Elmer and Cornelius Shackelford plenty of touches. Elmer is fourth in the conference with 344 yards rushing and touchdown on 58 carries. Shackelford, who missed some game time early, has 176 yards and two scores on 34 carries.

ABC will give the ball to Travis George, who has 269 yards and two scores. No one else approaches George's 68 carries, and no one for ABC has rushed for more than 45 yards besides George.

KC's two quarterbacks are Lane Johnson, a freshman from Groveton, and Shane Fry, a freshman from Hallsville. The two combined for about 300 yards passing in the win last weekend over Blinn, and Fry was a part of the most dramatic play of the night: a 3-yard touchdown pass to Cortez Smith in the rear right corner of the south end zone at R.E. St. John with just 3.6 seconds left to play. The game, of course, went to overtime, and Rico Casas won it for the Rangers on a field goal.

Fry and Johnson are both getting time each week. On the season, Fry has completed 32 of 68 passes for 411 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. Johnson is 15 of 32 for 298 yards, two scores and four picks.

They do have plenty of targets. Smith, as mentioned, is one of the most popular. He had six catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns against Blinn, and on the season, the sophomore has 13 catches for 309 yards and four touchdowns (his four TD receptions lead the SWJCFC).

Ed Victorian has six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown; wideout Darius Perkins and tight end Jesse Smitherman each have five catches (Smitherman had three against Blinn), and another tight end, Woody McClendon, who has been out with a hand injury, is slowly working his way back into the lineup.

Quarterback for ABC has been a one-man show: Nick Maxfield, who is 50 of 125 for 737 yards, five touchdowns and eight interceptions. His leading receivers are Nate Sims (11 catches, 126 yards), Eric Turner (10 grabs, 183 yards, two TDs) and A.J. Avery (nine catches, 123 yards).

KC is sixth in the conference in total offense after four games (1,348, averaging 337 per game) and ABC is dead last (1,136, just 228 yards per game).

Defensively, it's exactly the same: Kilgore is sixth (giving up 328 yards a contest) and ABC is last (allowing 388).

KC looked like the conference's best defense last week against Blinn, holding the offensive juggernaut to 248 yards of total offense. Matt Jones, a defensive end and an Arkansas native, had two sacks in the game and seven tackles. Linebackers Yousef Nacouzi and L.T. Gaston are among the conference leaders in tackles (25 each), and Jimmy Anderson, a cornerback, has four interceptions and is tied for the conference lead.

Victor Carmichael, a corner who had been injured but played against Blinn, is an emotional playmaker and a team leader. Carmichael has one interception this year, a 13-yard touchdown against Tyler. Even with the missed time, Carmichael still leads the team in tackles (31).

To hear the game, listen live on KZQX 105.3-FM, or live on the Internet at tsrnsports.com, the Texas Sports Radio Network website. Calling the action for both will be Manny Almanza, the voice of KC sports, along with color broadcaster Mark Fried.