Rangers' national title team from 1966 Hall-bound
JUNIOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL
By MARK KRUG Special to the News Herald

Four former players, a coach of four different NJCAA programs in Mississippi, a special contributor to the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norseman program and the national champions of the 1966 season are the 2008 inductees into the 2008 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Football Hall of Fame Class.

Those 1966 national champions come from none other than Kilgore College.

The '66 Rangers will now be forever remembered on the national stage, a part of the NJCAA Football Hall. That season, KC beat Ferrum Junior College (Va.), 28-7, for the NJCAA championship. The Rangers went 10-1 that season, outscored their opponents 320-65 and amassed 3,271 offensive yards compared to 1,667 yards totaled by their opponents. Head coach Boyd Converse, the 1966 NJCAA Coach of the Year, had a roster that featured NJCAA Lineman of the Year and first-team All- American John Gregory, NJCAA second-team All-American Joe Sliker and NJCAA honorable-mention Bill Dietz.

In addition to their NJCAA honors, the team will also be recognized at the KC Hall of Fame weekend Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, when the Rangers host Cisco.

The current version of the Rangers, coached by J.J. Eckert, were to scrimmage Navarro on Saturday afternoon, following the deadline for this edition of the News Herald, and open the season this coming Saturday, Aug. 30, at home against Fort Scott (Kan.).

Individual honorees are former Dixie State College (Idaho) running back Archie Amerson, former Fort Scott Community College (Kan.) star Gerland Beaman, former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College offensive lineman Richard Hayes and the 1997 NJCAA Player of the Year Frank Murphy of Garden City Community College (Kan).

A.J. Kilpatrick, who was the head coach at four different NJCAA schools in Mississippi, is the lone coach in this year's class, while Robert Maxwell makes it into the Hall of Fame via the special contributor category.

• Archie Amerson (Dixie State College, Idaho): Archie Amerson was a two-time All-Western States Football League running back at Dixie State and was a first-team NJCAA All-American in 1994. He rushed for over 3,000 yards at Dixie State before transferring to Northern Arizona University. At NAU, Amerson established himself as one of the best rushers in the NCAA DIAA ranks. He became just the eighth player in history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season with his 2,079 yards in 1996 and his 156 points (26 TD's) led the nation and ranks 11 th all-time. He also holds an NCAA record for scoring seven rushing touchdowns in one game. Amerson was the winner of the 1996 Walter Payton Award, which is handed out each year to the best I-AA player in the nation.

• Gerald "Nate" Beaman (player, coach, Fort Scott Community College (Kan.): Nate Beaman's path to the NJCAA Football Hall of Fame quite unique. After graduating from Uniontown High School (Kan.) in 1942, he joined the Navy and was introduced to football at the Naval Air Station in Atlantic City, N.J. After WWII, he starred at Fort Scott Community College in football, basketball, and track, earning NJCAA All-American honors in both football and basketball. Beaman then signed a professional baseball contract with the St. Louis Browns in 1947. After two seasons in the minors with the Pittsburgh Browns, Beaman enrolled at Kansas State Teachers School (now Pittsburgh State University) and continued his football and baseball career.

• Richard Haynes (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO): Haynes started two seasons on the offensive line at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M during the 1963 and '64 seasons, serving as captain his sophomore campaign. He was, and still is, the only two-time All-American (JC Gridwire) in the long and storied history of NEO football.

• Frank Murphy (Garden City Community College, Kan.): Frank Murphy was a two-time All-Kansas Jayhawk running back and selected as the 1997 NJCAA Football Player of the Year, leading Garden City to the Kansas Jayhawk Conference title, a No. 4 national ranking and a trip to the Red River Bowl. Murphy rushed for 1,370 yards on 210 carries, averaging 6.52 yards per game. In addition to his rushing accolades, he also scored 26 touchdowns, which ranked second that year. He was also named a first-team NJCAA All-American in '97 and was the Kansas Jayhawk Conference MVP as well. Transferring to Kansas State University in 1998, he was the Wildcats' second leading rusher in 1999 with 541 yards and six touchdowns. He was then selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He made his NFL Debut in December 2000 with Tampa Bay. Moved to receiver in 2001, he caught eight passes for Tampa Bay for 71 yards and a touchdown. After stints with the Texans and Dolphins, Murphy played in the Canadian Football League in 2007, and was recently traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

• A.J. Kilpatrick (coach, East Mississippi Community College (Miss.), Northwest Mississippi Community College, Holmes Community College (Miss.) and East Central Community College (Miss.): With over 18 years of service in the NJCAA as a football coach and athletic director, A.J. Kilpatrick also served as vice-president and president of the Mississippi Association of Junior & Community Colleges Football Coaches Association. Kilpatrick served as the head football coach at four different MACJC programs. He led East Mississippi Community College from 1969-71, while also serving as athletic director. He went 16- 4 and led the Lions to the North Division MACJC title in '69 and a share of the title a year later. After a four year stint as the head coach at Louisville High School (Louisville, Miss.), he went 26- 13-2 from 1975-79 as head coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College where after a conference runner-up finish in '75 he guided the Rangers to a North Division crown in '76. He also served as athletic director at NMCC. He shifted his talents to the high school ranks again for two seasons before taking the head coaching spot, along with the AD position, at Holmes Community College (Miss.) in 1980 where he led the Bulldogs to the 1981 MACJC Championship and a berth in the Garland Texas Bowl Classic where they fell 24-10 to Tyler Junior College (Texas). In 1982 he moved on to East Central Community College (Miss.), serving as head coach until 1992. His lifetime NJCAA coaching record stands at 94-87-4 (.519), while his overall football coaching record of 38 years is 238-138-12 (.629). He is a four-time Coach of the Year honoree in the state of Mississippi, was inducted into the MACJC Hall of Fame in 1986 and the East Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame in 2002.

• Robert Maxwell (contributor, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO)): From 1966 to 2000, Robert Maxwell served as an assistant coach for the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M football program. During that time he helped produce 26 All-Americans as a defensive secondary coach and was an instrumental part of NEO's NJCAA National Championship teams in 1967, '69, '80, '86, and '91. In addition to his football coaching, he also served as NEO's head baseball coach from 1966 to 1979, making 11 trips to the Region 2 playoffs. He then won 75 games as head softball coach from 1986 to 1988, winning three-straight Region 2 titles and advancing each season to the national tournament. Maxwell is also a NEO alum, lettering in football, basketball, baseball and track in both 1957 and 1958.

Mark Krug is director of sports information & media relations for the NJCAA. Kilgore News Herald sports editor Mitch Lucas contributed to this story.