ETBLITZ GAME OF THE WEEK: KC, TJC | Today’s game at Rose for the conference lead
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally hit the site on Thursday, but this game is today at 3 p.m. at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler, and we wanted to call attention to it; it’s that important. We’ve bumped it back up. – Mitch
2,616 days.
That’s how long it’s been since Tyler Junior College defeated Kilgore College in football.
KC’s streak of 12 games – two games a season, mostly, a non-conference game and then a Southwest Junior College Football Conference game between the two rivals each year – is on the line today at CHRISTUS Trinty Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler, an East Texas football palace.
This will be the 132nd meeting between No. 9-ranked Kilgore College and No. 12 TJC, a 3 o’clock showdown. The two teams could play in a rose garden, a parking lot or a junkyard, for that matter, and the intensity would be the same: off the charts.
It is homecoming for TJC.
Here’s a link to purchase tickets: Apache Ticketing – Tyler Junior College (apacheathletics.com).
See a live streaming broadcast of the contest here (TJCApacheAthletics – YouTube), and listen to Manny Almanza and partners call the game on 92.1-FM, The Team, or streaming audio here: 92.1 FM – The TEAM Sports Radio (theteamfm.com).
TJC is currently 5-2, but the Apaches are 5-0 in conference play. Coach Willie Gooden, who has been a player, an assistant coach, a coordinator and for the last five seasons, head coach of the Kilgore College Rangers, has never lost as a head coach to the Apaches. Gooden has led his team to a 5-1 overall record and 3-1 in the conference this season, their only loss to Cisco.
The Rangers’ most recent win: on the road at Trinity Valley last Saturday, 26-13.
The Apaches lost their first two games: on the road at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, and at Georgia Military College, back on Sept. 7. They’ve won every game since, knocking off Trinity Valley (in Tyler); beating Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO, in Miami, Okla.); beating New Mexico Military at Rose Stadium by 11 points; winning at Blinn College by three, back on Oct. 12, and then last week, blowing out Cisco in Tyler.
The Rangers have won the conference the last two seasons, and are looking for a third straight title.
The last meeting between the rivals was played at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium in Kilgore, back on Oct. 28, 2023, then No. 3-ranked KC vs. No. 11-ranked Tyler, a game KC won, 55-13. KC leads the overall series, 67-62, and there are two ties.
There was no non-conference matchup between the programs this year to kick off the season, as has become custom. So this season, unless they meet in the conference playoffs, will have only one KC-TJC game.
As it turns out, it’s a winner-take-all: bragging rights, a conference game, and the lead in the conference standings on the line.
KC’s streak of 12 straight in the series dates back to October 28, 2017. Tyler’s last win over KC was Aug. 26, 2017.
This time, there is one other difference: they’re not playing to end the regular season, as they so often have. Both teams have games after this, although Tyler only has one: at Navarro, on Saturday, Nov. 2 – the Apaches have an open date the last day of the regular season, on Nov. 9.
KC will host Blinn next Saturday for homecoming, and then on Nov. 9, they’ll close the regular season with a trip to Miami, Okla., to face NEO.
The top four teams in the conference make the playoffs. If the season ended today, that would be Tyler, KC, Cisco and Navarro, in that order.
But there’s a lot of football left, and Saturday’s game is sure to mean so much.
The Rangers are averaging 34.8 points a game, and giving up, on average, just 16.7. They’re averaging 345 yards on average per game, and giving up on average just 196, including holding opponents to an average of 36 yards rushing on the ground.
TJC is only averaging 19 points a game this year, but is holding opponents, on average, to just over 13.
Gooden’s starter at quarterback, Waco native Tyler Webb, a sophomore, is 72-of-131 for 951 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions, but freshman Seth Mouser has also played sparingly, and is 9-of-16 for 195 yards, three touchdowns and a pick.
As a team, the Rangers have rushed for 927 yards in the six games played, on 182 carries, averaging about 5.1 yards a carry. They’ve scored 12 rushing touchdowns on the season. Fourteen players have contributed. Gary Maddox leads the way: 275 yards on 76 carries, and five scores.
Samuel Mbake leads the Rangers in catches, with 15, for 192 yards and a score. Devontae Mozee has 11 catches for 230 yards and three scores.
The Rangers have a pair of good kickers: Adan Reyes and Anthony Monsivais. Reyes is 24-of-26 in extra point attempts this year and 10-of-13 in field goals, a long of 43 yards. Monsivais has hit the four extra points he’s kicked and is 1-of-2 in field goal attempts, from 40 yards.
Monsivais doubles as the punter and has punted 21 times this year, for a 34.6-yard average. He’s landed eight of them inside the 20-yard-line. Webb is also more than capable and has done so twice this season, averaging 36.5 yards a punt, landing one inside the 20.
The kick and punt returns on special teams have been a weapon for KC this season. Mozee has seven kick returns for 297 yards, and averages 42 yards a return, with a touchdown – it was from 98 yards. He’s also returned two punts for a 24.5-yard average.
Melvin Polk has five kick returns, averaging 31 yards a return, but also has four punt returns, averaging 28 yards a return, and a 95-yarder that helped KC beat Navarro in Corsicana.
Jermaine Taylor and Marcus Moultrie have also both had a kick return for a touchdown this season for the Rangers.
Sophomore defensive lineman Izeal Jones leads the team with 56 total tackles, averages just over nine a game, and has 3 ½ tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Christian Thomas has five sacks and leads a pass rush that is relentless this season. Thomas’s five sacks are part of 27 as a unit. Sophomore linebacker DaeVaughndric Lewis has four.
Defensive back Jaylen Webb has five interceptions; KC’s defense has nine on the season, collectively. And they have 45 tackles for loss; Lewis leads that category, with 5 ½.
At TJC, three quarterbacks have had considerable playing time this season: Nathan Greek, Josh Thomas and Tre Guerra. Greek leads in passing: 47-of-85 for 569 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Thomas has 241 passing yards, a touchdown pass and two interceptions, and Guerra, 224 yards and a touchdown.
The Apaches have rushed for 1,294 yards, average 4.9 yards a carry and nine touchdowns. Lavarion Logan – 459 yards and four touchdowns, a 6.4-yard-per carry average – leads the way, with Bryce Burgess second: 430 yards and two scores, averaging 6.6 yards a carry.
Receivers to watch for TJC include Cam Thomas (20 catches 139 yards and a score), Hawk Patrick-Daniels (15 catches, 123 yards and a score), and Ja’Quan MaGee, nine catches, 131 yards and a TD – no player on the TJC roster has more than one touchdown catch.
Christian Baxter, a sophomore, is 2-of-3 on the season in field goal kicks, a long of 37: the Apaches have only attempted four field goals all season, and Bryan Ramirez hit the other. Ramirez averaes 41.8 yards a punt.
Redshirt sophomore Darion White leads the Apaches in tackles (85) and has 4 ½ sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception on the season, as well.
William Cornelson, also a redshirt sophomore, is second with 78 tackles, and has 5 ½ sacks. TJC really gets after opposing quarterbacks: 37 sacks this season. Turnovers, not so much: only four fumble recoveries and five interceptions all year for the TJC defensive unit.