#14 KILGORE RALLIES TO DEFEAT BLINN 22-14

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College football team had No. 14 Kilgore College on the ropes Saturday, but a pair of touchdowns late in the fourth quarter helped the Rangers prevail 22-14 in Kilgore, Texas.

The Southwest Junior College Football Conference loss dropped the Buccaneers to 4-4 overall and 2-4 in conference play, and with just one game remaining, jeopardizes their chances of making the conference playoffs.

"It's definitely frustrating," Blinn head coach Ryan Mahon said. "It was a slugfest, but in high-pressure situations, you have to do what you are coached to do … you have to fall back on your coaching … and we didn't do that today."

A defensive battle resulted in a 7-7 tie deep into the ballgame, with neither team yielding much ground until the final 9 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Blinn thrived behind its running game from start to finish and used its ground attack to score its final touchdown of the afternoon. Facing a 3rd-and-2 situation at the Kilgore 42-yard line, sophomore running back Kelton Weathers ripped off a 40-yard dash down to the 2. One play later, freshman halfback Devin Simpson trotted into the end zone and freshman kicker Cameron Noto booted the extra point to give the Bucs a 14-7 lead with 8:48 remaining.

The Rangers answered with a 27-yard TD pass and tied the game at the 5:07 mark.

On its ensuing drive, Blinn moved into Kilgore territory and had an opportunity to take the lead, but its 40-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The loose ball was picked up by the Rangers and returned to their own 45-yard line, and a Bucs facemask penalty during the return set Kilgore up at the Blinn 45 with 2:20 to go.

A quick Rangers drive ended with a 34-yard scoring pass to a wide-open receiver. A botched snap on the point-after attempt was scooped up by Kilgore and a desperation pass was caught for an impromptu 2-point conversion with 1:05 remaining.

"A couple of busted coverages late in the game proved to be the difference," Mahon added, "but our defense played its heart out all game and kept us in it until the very end."

Blinn's final drive of the game ended in its own territory with a strip sack of sophomore quarterback Rylan Wooten. The fumble was recovered by the Rangers, who salted away the final seconds of play to earn the win.

The Bucs opened the scoring inside the 11-minute mark of the first quarter when Weathers showed off his speed on a 67-yard run straight up the middle and into the end zone. 

Kilgore answered in the final minute of the first on a 2-yard QB keeper.

Despite the loss, Blinn still has a chance to qualify for the postseason but needs a win over Cisco College in both teams' regular-season finale, as well as some favorable outcomes elsewhere in the conference. 

The two teams meet at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Cub Stadium in Brenham, Texas.

If Blinn defeats Cisco and Navarro College tops New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI), that would leave the Bucs, Cisco, and Trinity Valley with a 3-4 conference record and tied for the fourth and final conference playoff berth. If NMMI prevails over Navarro, and Blinn defeats Cisco, that would put four teams in contention for the fourth spot, and total points scored could be the deciding tiebreaker.

"It's not an ideal situation we find ourselves in, but we're still playing for something," Mahon said. "I had a good conversation with our team at the end of the game about what needs to happen this week in terms of work, practice, and preparation, and that's going to be our focus. We're going to control what we can control and hope for the best."