KC sinks Bucs, now third in nation

Sep. 15—It's said that you can only control what YOU can control.

On Saturday, Kilgore College's Rangers controlled Blinn. And quarterback Malcolm Mays had an unreal outing, throwing for 425 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-17 win.

KC, made the trek to Brenham to face a program that was once one of the best in the U.S., Blinn. And the Bucs did put up a bit of a fight.

A bit — before losing,

The rivals were tied at seven at the end of the first quarter, and Blinn trailed just 21-7 at the half. But that's when KC really turned it on, holding the Bucs to just 10 second-half points, while scoring four touchdowns of their own for the final score.

The big news, besides the win: KC had 760 yards of total offense, on 67 offensive plays.

The bigger news early this week: the poll voters are watching the Rangers.

KC is now third in the nation, its highest ranking since the middle of the spring season earlier this year, behind only No. 1 Snow (Utah) and No. 2 Garden City (Kan.). And KC plays Snow here at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium later this year in a non-conference game.

Sure, Texas teams want to win the Southwest Junior College Football Conference title, and KC has won that championship many times. But the Rangers would love to be in the top four at the end of the season, because, as mentioned several times in recent weeks, the NJCAA has a new format this year: number 1 hosts number four, number two hosts number three, and the two winners of those games play at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock this December for the junior college national championship.

Right now, with most of the season to go, KC is in one of the coveted top four spots.

Number four, by the way, in the new poll released Monday is Iowa Western. Five is Mississippi Gulf Coast, and six is Independence (Kan.). A KC conference rival, Trinity Valley, is seventh, and another KC conference opponent, New Mexico Military, is 12th.

Back to the win at Blinn.

Mays' day was mentioned early in this story: 15-of-22 for 425 yards and five touchdowns, two of them to Zeek Freeman, who had just two catches — but for 156 yards and the two scores.

Clifton McDowell also had a pair of touchdown passes and threw for 178 yards. Tyrese Heard had two catches as well, for 100 yards and a score. Marques Pearson had four catches for 96 yards and a score, and Cassius Allen had four catches, as well, for 78 yards and a score.

Bailee Davenport had a catch for a 47-yard score; Kennieth Lacy, the former Kilgore High School standout, had a 45-yard catch that he took for a touchdown; and Garrison Johnson had two catches for 32 yards.

KC's backfield didn't have a rushing touchdown this week, but did run for a combined 156 yards.

If there was a negative in the win for the Rangers, it was that penalties remain a problem, or have been in both games so far (TJC first, now Blinn): 14 penalties Saturday against the Bucs for 105 yards, something the Rangers will need to clean up.

The Rangers' defense didn't create a turnover this week, but they did break up seven Blinn passes and put incredible pressure on Blinn's quarterbacks: eight sacks. Kaderion Johnson had two, Maurice Westmoreland, Fred Hill and Keith Harris each had a sack and a half, and Derrion Clark and Warren Robinson each had a sack.

Edric Whitley had three tackles for loss, and Harris led the Rangers with 11 total tackles.

The Rangers will now prepare for their next opponent, and that's Northeastern Oklahoma A&M here on Saturday, on the schedule for a 1 p.m. start.