KC STILL NO. 9 NATIONALLY | Rangers beat back Trinity Valley; play TJC in Tyler this Saturday at 3 (w/ NJCAA poll)
The latest NJCAA poll is out, and the Kilgore College Rangers remain No. 9 in the nation – and also the highest-ranked team in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference. (See the complete poll below)
Coach Willie Gooden – celebrating a birthday Tuesday – looks at the rankings and finds that his team, at ninth overall, is still in front of conference rivals Navarro (No. 11) and Tyler (No. 12, in spite of being 5-0 in conference play).
KC, of course, has a huge game this Saturday: they’ll kick off at 3 p.m. against archrival Tyler Junior College at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.
Last Saturday, Kilgore College returned from its open date for the first back-to-back games against arguably its two most bitter rivals. The Rangers hit the road to Athens, down Highway 31, and came home with a 26-13 win.
The Rangers are now 5-1 on the season, their one loss a setback at home to Cisco, 35-30, decided in the game’s final seconds.
Left on the schedule, of course, is this coming Saturday’s road game at TJC; the Rangers’ homecoming game on Saturday, Nov. 2, against Blinn, a 3 p.m. kickoff at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium; and then closes the regular season with a road trip to Miami, Okla., on Nov. 9 to face Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO).
Only the top four teams in the conference standings make the playoffs, though, and Tyler leads, as mentioned, at 5-0. KC and Cisco are both 3-1, although Cisco would hold the tiebreaker over the Rangers by virtue of their head-to-head win. And Navarro is 2-2 in conference play.
Out of playoff position right now are New Mexico Military Institute (2-3), Blinn (1-3), NEO (1-3), and Trinity Valley (1-4 after that loss to KC on Saturday).
In other scores from Saturday, NEO outlasted Nex Mexico Military by a point, 16-15; Tyler edged Cisco by a field goal, 13-10; and Blinn stepped out of conference and blasted Community Christian (La.), 59-0.
Against Trinity Valley, after trailing early (7-0), it was all Kilgore College.
Three different players – Gary Maddox, Cory Huff and Luke McMullen – each ran for a touchdown, and quarterback Tyler Webb rushed for 58 yards and was 16-of-25 passing for 128.
Devontae Mozee had four catches for 23 yards; McMullen had three, for 9 yards; and Sam Mbake had two for 40. Maddox, Dylan Nelson, Dominique Williams and Ashtin Watkins each had a catch.
The Rangers’ other touchdown was a kickoff return by Jermaine Taylor, and Mozee, as usual, had a nice return, a 30-yarder on a punt return.
Anthony Monsivais and Adan Reyes each had a field goal – Monsivais from 40 yards, Reyes from 36 – and Reyes hit one of his two extra points kicked.
Defensively, the Rangers combined for an eye-opening 10 sacks: Remington Roberts had two, and Josh Williams, Christian Thomas, Kareeem Edmon, Hope Tita, Drew DeArman, and Jamal Lindsey each had one; Matt Freeman, Cobie Miller, Jordan Jefferson and Izeal Jones all were credited with half-sacks.
The Rangers didn’t have a single turnover, but Kilgore College’s defense created some. Jaylen Webb had an interception, and Jones and Jefferson each had fumble recoveries. Williams caused one of the fumbles; Dorian Friend, the other. And Friend also had a tackle for loss.
In addition, the KC “D,” affectionately dubbed “Blue Steel” a few years’ back, also had 15 quarterback hurries (Wilburn Smallwood had three of them, and Freeman, Jefferson, and Edmon each had two.
Jones led the way with 11 total tackles, seven of them solo, and KC’s defense held the Cardinals to just 169 total yards.
Two additional notes: the Rangers had 40 first downs, to just 13 for TVCC, and KC was an out-of-sight 88 percent – 7-of-8 – on third-down conversions. Trinity Valley was 4-of-15, a huge difference in this game.
| Ranking / Team | Record | Points | Previous ranking |
| 1. HUTCHINSON, Kan. | 7-0 | 150 | 1 |
| 2. IOWA WESTERN | 6-1 | 140 | 2 |
| 3. GEORGIA MILITARY | 7-1 | 129 | 3 |
| 4. SNOW, Utah | 6-1 | 120 | 4 |
| 5. GARDEN CITY, Kan. | 6-1 | 111 | 5 |
| 6. HOLMES (Miss.) | 7-0 | 100 | 6 |
| 7. MISS. GULF COAST | 6-1 | 89 | 7 |
| 8. NW MISSISSIPPI | 6-1 | 79 | 8 |
| 9. KILGORE COLLEGE | 5-1 | 71 | 9 |
| 10. LACKAWANNA, Pa. | 5-2 | 58 | 10 |
| 11. NAVARRO | 3-2 | 49 | 13 |
| 12. TYLER | 5-2 | 41 | 15 |
| 13. BUTLER, Kan. | 3-3 | 24 | 11 |
| 14. E. CENTRAL, Miss. | 5-2 | 18 | Not ranked |
| 15. COFFEYVILLE, Kan | 4-3 | 14 | 12 |
