TJC holds off Rangers in slugfest

CATCH HIM! — Kilgore College defensive ends Marvin Wilcots (42) and Matt Jones (8) try to chase down TJC quarterback Vincent McNeil (above). Right: KC tailback Daniel Thompson looks for room to run. About 6,000 people were in attendance Thursday night at Rose Stadium for the 106th playing of the Tyler Junior College Apaches and Kilgore College Rangers rivalry — and it wasn't even a conference game.

With the pace set by this non-conference affair, what will the Oct. 10 rematch here in Kilgore, one with a conference win on the line, hold?

TJC benefitted from some key KC turnovers and a great rushing performance by Don Brown and held off the Rangers for a 51-33 victory. Tyler sprinted out to a 21- point first quarter and actually led 14-0 before five minutes was gone in the game, thanks to a KC fumble that was one of the turning points in the contest.

TJC had just finished an eight-play, 71-yard drive with a touchdown, and then recovered the KC fumble at KC's 31. The Apaches scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 31-yard pass from quarterback Vincent McNeil to Jamaal Johnson.

It was that kind of a night for the Rangers, who didn't play badly, but were hurt by a bad start.

The Rangers got onto the scoreboard in the first quarter, too, thanks to a dynamic catch and run by a tight end, Chase Ford. But TJC would score again before the first quarter was up, a 20-yard run by the versatile McNeil. Mc- Neil would score yet again on a 10-yard run just moments after the second quarter started, and TJC's special teams contributed one of their own midway through the quarter on a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jabroski Smiley.

In between those two scores, the Rangers (0-2) got a 20-yard field goal from David Bailey, and then a touchdown pass from former Kilgore High School standout Chase Fisher to another Chase, tight end Ford. The 16-yard play was a big one by Ford, who dove for the end zone from about the 7-yardline and got in for the score. Bailey's kick made it 35-17, the eventual halftime score.

Things got a little more interesting in the early portion of the third quarter. Freshman Daniel Thompson — a former West Rusk standout who gained right at 2,000 yards his senior season — scored on a 1-yard run to cap KC's first drive of the second half, less than two minutes gone by. The Rangers moved 60 yards in just four plays for the score. Bailey's kick made it 35-24 TJC, with a large amount of the half to play.

The Apaches would extend their lead by one more touchdown on a 39-yard pass from McNeil to Justin Bell with five minutes left in the quarter, and add a field goal from 21 yards out by Jorge Martinez early in the fourth quarter, going up 45-24. KC recorded a safety on McNeil, courtesy of Matt Jones and JoJo Schumpert, as he tried to scramble out of his own end zone, and would get a 1- yard touchdown run by Dominique Wilkins with 6:04 left, but could get no closer. TJC would put the icing on the cake with a 1-yard scoring run by Chris Walker with a minute and a half left.

KC's offense wasn't at all shabby, getting 365 total yards on the night, but the fast TJC start was more than the Rangers could handle.

Fisher finished statistically with another good night. He was 8-of-10 for 122 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Ford caught four passes for 92 yards and the two scores. Freshman Si'Darius Blackshire, the Carthage product, got more playing time in this game than in the season opener. Blackshire finished 9-of-16 for 164 yards.

Thompson led the Rangers in rushing with 62 yards and the touchdown on 11 carries.

For Tyler, Brown finished with 145 yards rushing, although he didn't score.

McNeil scored twice himself on the two runs, then threw two touchdowns and finished 10-of-17 for 148 yards.

Coach J.J. Eckert and the Rangers will try for their first win against a very difficult opponent — No. 2-ranked Navarro — on Saturday, Sept. 19 at home at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium, the first home game of the season. It's a 7 p.m. kickoff that night, and is also the Southwest Junior College Football Conference opener for both teams.

KC has the unenviable task of facing the nation's top two teams in consecutive weeks. Right after playing Navarro, KC heads to No. 1 Blinn on Sept. 26 in Brenham.