IOWA WESTERN GOES BY KC | Rangers can’t get it going, but finish with conference title, 9 wins

There were many good days for the Kilgore College Rangers football program in 2023 – Sunday wasn’t one of them, but the season likely won’t be remembered for a lopsided loss in Iowa.

The Rangers, ranked third in the nation, reached the NJCAA semifinals, the nation’s top four, but fell behind early in the game to defending national champion and No. 2 overall seed Iowa Western, and ultimately couldn’t recover, finally losing 47-7, as the Reivers advanced to the junior college national championship game in a couple of weeks.

For KC’s Rangers, the season ends with a 9-2 overall record, but an appearance at the national level, another Southwest Junior College Football Conference championship, a likely No. 3 or 4 final national ranking, a win in the conference championship over the team that dealt them their only regular season loss (Navarro), a triple-overtime playoff win over New Mexico Military, and wins over rivals Tyler and Trinity Valley.

Not much was working on Sunday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, though. The Reivers got it going early, on their first possession of the game, and put together an eight-play drive that got points for Iowa Western, courtesy of a 37-yard pass from Hunter Watson to Latrell Bonner. Max Bartachek hit the extra point and with less than four minutes off the clock, IW had a 7-0 lead.

KC would avoid disaster before the Rangers would even get the ball: on the kickoff, Kemari Copeland forced a fumble, and Iowa Western recovered in a pile at the KC 35-yard-line. But the Reivers were put in the hole when they were flagged for having an ineligible man downfield, then Watson was sacked by KC’s Chris Robinson for a loss of 7 yards.

Just when it looked like KC was getting things going its way, or at least on an even keel, after the Rangers’ Chris Baldazo had pinned the Reivers back on their own 5-yard-line, running back Jonathan Humpal broke free down the sidelines and was gone, all the way for a 95-yard touchdown. Bartachek’s point after doubled Western’s lead, 14-0.

KC’s next drive ended in a punt, And Western’s next drive ended in points – that was unfortunately the story of the game. The drive began at midfield, at Western’s own 45, and after converting for one first down to KC’s 40, Watson found Jordan Johnson for a 40-yard TD.

It would get much worse for the Rangers moments, just seconds, later when – after the kickoff – KC started their next drive at their own 12, but quarterback Tyler Webb was blindsided by an Iowa Western defender, and lost the ball. Western’s Clev Lubin grabbed the ball at the Rangers’ 15 and ran into the end zone, another Western TD. Bartacheck hit another extra point, this one with 43 seconds left in the quarter, and put IW up 28-0, the eventual halftime score.

Bartachek added a 29-yard field goal with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter (31-0), and on the ensuing kickoff, KC wound up with the ball at its own 1. Running back Kaden Meredith lost a yard, snagged for a safety and giving the Reivers two more points on defense (33-0).

Western would get two more touchdowns – a 27-yard run by Bryant Williams with 5:55 left in the third quarter and a 13-yard pass from Watson to L.J. Fitzpatrick with 4:31 left in the third – for a 47-0 lead.

KC’s only score of the game would be with 5:26 left, a 41-yard pass from Mason Welch to Aldyn Bradley to avoid the shutout.

Again, a tough way for conference champs like this Rangers team to end the year, but nine wins, a conference title, and wins over their biggest rivals still combines for another successful season.

Kilgore College’s leading receiver, first-team All-SWJFC player Michael Phoenix (4, left) hauls in a touchdown pass against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M earlier this season. The Rangers lost on Sunday at Iowa Western, but finished the year as one of the top four teams in the nation, and the Southwestern Junior College Football Conference champions. (File photo by ALEX NABOR – ETBLITZ.COM)