KC TOPS NAVARRO! | Hard-hitting battle in Corsicana, but Polk, running game, & defense help Rangers escape, 23-13

This just in: Kilgore College receiver Melvin Polk is fast.

This just in, part two: KC’s defense is stingy.

And this just in, part three: the Rangers are still the kings of the mountain in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference.

Coach Willie Gooden and the Rangers, ranked No. 5 in the nation in the NJCAA poll, journeyed about two hours to Corsicana on Saturday for a battle with one of their Highway 31 rivals, the Navarro Bulldogs.

It didn’t disappoint, as Navarro stood up to KC for four quarters, but ultimately fell in defeat to the Rangers, 23-13, at Corsicana’s Community National Bank & Trust Tiger Stadium.

Along the way, KC got a 95-yard kickoff return for a score from Polk, a touchdown run each by Gary Maddox and Luke McMullen, a field goal by Adan Reyes and just frankly, smash-mouth defense by the Rangers for 60 minutes.

The new poll will hit Monday, and we’ll see if KC climbs and how far Navarro falls, if at all.

Next up for Gooden and the Rangers (3-0): a home game against Cisco next Saturday, Sept. 28, a 3 p.m. start at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium, as conference play continues.

For Navarro (2-1), a trip to Blinn on Saturday, a 7 p.m. kick.

Defenses ruled early in Corsicana on Saturday with hard-hitting going on – a little too much, in fact, as on a punt, tKC was flagged for roughing Navarro’s punter, and the Bulldogs got a new set of downs at KC territory, at KC’s 48-yard-line.

Three plays later, the Bulldogs were in third and short, at the 39. The ball came out, and KC defensive lineman Izeal Jones, of Pearland High in Houston, scooped it up – officials ruled that a whistle had blown, and that Navarro running back Clay Thevenin had gotten the first down.

Navarro’s drive stalled out at the KC 28. Navarro lined up for a 46-yard field goal by Hayden Tessier with 24 seconds left in the first quarter, the game’s first score. That put Navarro up 3-0.

Things would get worse for the Rangers before they’d get much better.

The Bulldogs brought a corner blitz on third and 7. KC quarterback Tyler Webb was unable to connect with Polk, and KC had to punt again. Navarro blocked the kick, and gave themselves the ball at KC’s 14, with 3:51 left in the first, as the Rangers’ poor start continued.

Jones caught Navarro quarterback Ryan Shackleton before he could get into the end zone, but he did get a first-and-goal at KC’s 1. A bad snap got past Shackleton on the next play, a 10-yard loss, but he caught a break: KC was flagged for offsides, and the ball went right back to the 1.

The next play was complicated, to say the least – Thevenin was handed the ball by the quarterback, and then wrapped up by Jones. He managed to hand the ball back to Shackleton, who fell down, but was hit by KC defender Marcus Moultre, the former Harker Heights standout, who was flagged for a personal foul.

Two plays later, Thevenin would weave his way into the end zone on second-and-goal, and with the extra point, give his team a 10-0 lead.

KC finally hit a big play on the next drive, a pass from Webb to sophomore receiver Tanner Harrison, for 30 yards on what would be the final play of the quarter, all the way to Navarro’s 44-yard-line.

Webb was forced into third and long, and tried to scramble, but couldn’t pick up 13 yards he needed for a new set of downs. The Rangers, at Navarro’s 38, made the decision to go for it on fourth-and-5.

Webb would take the snap – but he’d quick-punt the ball and it was brilliant. Samuel Mbake downed the ball at the Navarro 1-yard-line.

Shackleton connected with receiver Chris Lewis on a pair of impressive pass plays into KC territory, but with eight minutes left, they got too greedy, and Moultre made them pay.

Shackleton lofted the ball downfield to Lewis, and Moultre, in an unbelievable play, just took the ball off the receiver at the KC 8-yard-line, with eight minutes left!

KC would sputter, though, and KC’s Anthony Monsivais would punt from his end zone. Micah Simpson of Navarro would have no room to run, though, and KC would wrap him up at the Rangers’ 47.

The Bulldogs would back up and with a holding penalty, would wind up in second and 23 at KC’s 44. Kareem Edmon, the big defensive tackle from Killeen Shoemaker, would wrap up Thevenin on third down for a 1-yard loss, and force a Navarro punt.

This was the beginning of the end for the Bulldogs.

It would be what the Rangers needed: an ill-advised kick to Polk that he would field at the 5, and take it all the way back, a 95-yard punt return for a score, the sixth one of the season for the Rangers that went for more than 50 yards, and yet another one for a touchdown.

The point after turned into a misadventure, though, as Monsivais’ hold went bad – it was hurled into the end zone by Reyes and picked off by Navarro defensive back Aubrey Smith, but KC was able to tackle Smith before he could return it for points, leaving Navarro in front, but by less – 10-6, with 2:20 left in the half.

Navarro would send Tessier out for a 55-yard field goal attempt, with seven seconds showing on the clock. Gooden would call a time out, and Tessier’s attempt was short. It left two seconds on the clock, and KC would run one play, and time expired with the Bulldogs up 10-6 at the half.

Another turning point in the game happened about midway through the third quarter.

With Navarro still up 10-6 and Maddox toting the load for KC, Maddox was tackled on a third-down play when Navarro defensive back Mumu Bin-Wahad was flagged for excessive celebration and allowed KC a new set of downs, at the Bulldogs’ 31, with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter.

Two plays later, Webb would hit Polk on a pass that he took out of bounds inside the 10-yard-line, at the 9, on what looked to be a busted defensive assignment.

Maddox would score on the very next play, a 9-yard run with 7:27 left that put KC up – with the extra point – 13-10 after the 10-play, 75-yard drive.

KC began to open it up.

After the defense shut Navarro down on its next drive, rather quickly, including a somewhat-controversial play where it appeared KC defensive lineman MarQuice Hill of Denton Ryan had recovered a fumble (officials ruled it was an incomplete pass), Polk returned the punt to midfield, and then two plays later, the speedy McMullen, from Jefferson, burst through and down his own sideline for a 28-yard run, to Navarro’s 12-yard-line.

McMullen would get to the 9 to set up a third-down play – for all of this, KC was just eating clock.

An illegal formation flag brought KC back to push them into third and 12, at the Navarro 14. The Rangers wouldn’t convert, and would send Reyes out for a 31-yard field goal that he would hit – and give KC a 16-10 lead with a minute and a half left in the third. That would send the game to the fourth quarter, with the same score.

Disaster hit for the Rangers, though, when Matai Thomas picked off a pass by KC backup quarterback Seth Mouser and returned it to the Rangers’ 31.

KC’s defense stiffened, and Shackleton would be called for intentional grounding. Still, Navarro would get a field goal out of it, a 48-yarder by Tessier, and cut KC’s lead to three, 16-13, with 12:50 left.

McMullen helped KC convert on a huge third down, a 17-yard run, all the way down to Navarro’s 36. Two plays later, after a big pass from Webb to Polk, McMullen would get into the end zone – quickly, because he knows no other way – on a 22-yard run, and after the extra point, the Rangers claimed a 23-13 advantage with 10:21 left.

That would be the final score of the game, as it turned out.

Navarro was short on a fourth-down and 1 in its own territory with 8 ½ minutes left, but KC, taking over on downs there, only ran 15 seconds off when it claimed possession, with three straight incomplete passes and then a quick drop punt by Webb.

Edmon was flagged for a horse-collar tackle on Shackleton, allowing the Bulldogs to extend a drive, and then two plays later, he completed a pass to Burns into KC territory, down to the 37, with six minutes left.

The next pass went into the hands of running back Thevenin, downfield, but he couldn’t pull it in. The Bulldogs were flagged for holding on the next play, pushing them into second down and 20 at midfield.

Clock ticking under five minutes and still trailing 23-13, Navarro was in a third-and-19, and KC defensive lineman Christian Thomas of Port Arthur Memorial sacked Shackleton, sending Navarro into fourth and 24.

Shackleton bootlegged out to his right, but the throw was incomplete, and KC took possession with 4:02 left.

On second and long, Maddox rumbled for 12 yards all the way down to Navarro’s 36, taking the clock under three minutes left. Navarro wasn’t taking time outs, and KC took the clock all the way down to the two-minute time out.

Following the time out, Maddox was ruled down at the Navarro 38, no gain, and on third and 12, KC opted to throw the ball – the pass was high, and the clock stopped, with 1:31 left.

Rather than punt, KC called a running play, and Maddox actually got the first down. A holding penalty was called on the Rangers, putting them in fourth and 22, at Navarro’s 48 with 1:21 left.

Monsivais was pressured but got off a phenomenal punt, with his teammates downing it at the 1 for the second time in the game – Webb did it on a pooch punt earlier.

Thevenin was hit in the end zone, but wound up with a 21-yard gain.

The quarterback was hit throwing the ball, a personal foul for roughing the passer on KC, and moved the ball up to the Bulldogs’ 37.

A run play (?) was called, with less than 30 seconds left, that gained 5 yards, and then he connected with No. 17 to KC’s 35. Navarro took a time out with 10 seconds left, but still down 23-13, a near impossibility.

Navarro brought another QB, Mason Shorb, in to hurl the ball downfield into the end zone, but that fell incomplete, and on the game’s final play, another Shorb pass fell incomplete harmlessly into the end zone.