BLINN VS. KILGORE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The Blinn College football team will look to get back on track Saturday against Kilgore College, and the Buccaneers will have a reliable weapon to lean on.
Blinn (2-2, 0-2 Southwest Junior College Football Conference) will face Kilgore (2-3, 1-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, in Kilgore, Texas, in a rematch of the teams’ season opener.
The Bucs defeated the Rangers 34-20 on Aug. 22 at Cub Stadium in Brenham, Texas, riding a rushing attack that produced 284 yards. Five weeks later, the ground game remains one of the Bucs’ most consistent strengths.
Blinn is averaging 177.3 rushing yards per game and 5.9 yards per carry, with the rushing attack totaling 709 yards through four games. The Bucs have rushed for at least 190 yards in three of their four contests.
While Blinn’s quarterbacks have contributed to the rushing attack, the Bucs’ running backs have been particularly productive, combining for 526 yards on 80 carries for a 6.6-yard average.
Sophomore Bryson Batts has carried the largest share of the workload, rushing 40 times for a team-high 288 yards and two touchdowns. The 5-foot-7, 170-pound Batts is averaging 7.2 yards per carry and 72 yards per game, with his 122 rushing yards against Kilgore marking a season high. His 56-yard touchdown run in that game remains his longest of the season.
Batts also has provided a major spark in the return game, averaging 38 yards on nine kickoff returns for 342 yards. He returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown against Kilgore in the opener.
Freshman Chad Gasper Jr. has been an equally dangerous complementary piece. The 6-foot, 215-pound Gasper has rushed 19 times for 140 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. His season-long 29-yard run came against Navarro College on Sept. 19.
Sophomore Lorenn Johnson has added 60 yards on 14 carries, while also making an impact against Kilgore when he caught a short pass on a wheel route and raced 66 yards for a touchdown.
Head coach Ryan Mahon has also deployed Batts and Gasper on the field simultaneously, creating another challenge for opposing defenses as they try to determine which back will get the football.
“It’s a great 1-2 punch,” Mahon said. “They utilize different styles in how they carry the football, but they're both effective. They make even a fraction of a block effective because of how they maximize the holes the offensive line opens for them.”
Batts said the confidence within the running back room is just as important as its physical ability.
“We believed from day one that we have the best running back room in the nation,” Batts said. “There is no weakness in our backfield. We have speed, we have power, we break tackles, we catch the football. I think that’s what makes us so hard to stop.”
Gasper echoed that confidence.
“We’ve made up our minds as a running back group that we’re not going to let anybody stop us,” he said. “We take pride in our running game.”
That consistency has become particularly important as Blinn continues to work through a quarterback rotation involving sophomore Jack Emerson and freshman David Richardson.
“If you’re struggling at quarterback, you need a run game; if you’re doing great at quarterback, you need a run game,” Mahon said. “That never changes for us.”
The Bucs will look to establish that run game again Saturday after falling to then-No. 10 Navarro on Sept. 19.
“We’re going to keep feeding those backs because you can’t deny the productivity,” Mahon said.
Blinn’s rushing attack will now face a familiar Kilgore defense, one that already saw the Bucs run roughshod in August.
“We take a lot of pride in what we do because we know it helps the entire offense,” Gasper said. “When you have young quarterbacks coming in who know they can rely on us to make big plays, get first downs in short-yardage situations, and even block in the passing game, I think that makes their jobs easier.”