KC HOME TODAY! | Third-ranked Rangers host NEO at 1

Sep. 18—Two games, both on the road, both Kilgore College wins — and now, finally today, the home opener for the Rangers in this 2021 season.

Coach Willie Gooden and his KC Rangers (2-0 overall, 1-0 in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference) will host Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO, if you will; 0-1) in sort of a matinee game, a 1 p.m. start here at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.

NEO hasn't defeated the Rangers since 2012; KC has an eight-game winning streak in the series (the two haven't met in the conference playoffs during that time, only the regular season).

Come out and watch the Rangers — and, of course, the Rangerettes at halftime — and go ahead and get tickets online. To do that, visit kilgore.edu/football-tickets. General admission tickets are $10 each, and reserved section seats are $15.

Anyone who can't get to the game but would love to see it can check out the live steam (online) of the game on the Kilgore College Sports Network page on Facebook, and also on the KC YouTube.com page. The score and time will be displayed on the screen, and the in-game announcer will be audible on the broadcast.

Also, one more thing for those who are coming out: KC board member Travis Martin — known for his generosity and grilling ability — is throwing a tailgate party prior to the game. There's no cost, and it kicks up about 11 a.m. outside the stadium. It won't take you long to find it.

And it won't take the Rangers long to get motivated, surely, for their first home game of the year. Gooden and his Rangers are ranked third in the nation, behind only Snow College (Utah) and Garden City (Kansas). The top four teams in the nation at the end of the regular season will play each other — 1 versus 4 and 2 hosting 3 — with the winners of the two semifinal games to meet at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock for the national championship.

KC finished 12-0 back in 2001, when coach Gooden was a player here, and that team recently had its anniversary get-together. Gooden has assured the News Herald he would love nothing more than to bring a national championship to the KC campus for Christmas this year.

The next step in that process is knocking off the Golden Norsemen, because KC, and all the schools in the top 10 likely cannot afford a loss and still be in that final four at the end of the season.

The Golden Norsemen always log the most miles in the SWJCFC, with all their trips to Texas and now the addition of New Mexico Military that they have to visit every other year. This time, the game has been moved up six hours to help accommodate their travel.

NEO is coached now by Zach Crissup, one of the younger coaches and shortest-tenured coaches in the conference, he's in his second season after serving as the Golden Norsemen's defensive coordinator before that.

The Norsemen dropped their first game of the season, to Trinity Valley, 27-10. Trinity Valley only had 321 yards of total offense in the game, but sacked NEO quarterbacks seven times, and went 5-of-5 in fourth-down conversions.

NEO played three quarterbacks in the game: Perry Olsen (4-of-15 for 74 yards and an interception), Aaron Norment (1-of-4, 7 yards) and Quentevin Cherry (0-of-1). Tre'juan Shaw rushed for 74 yards and a score on 11 carries, and kicker Cooper Houchin hit a 37-yard field goal.

One thing in the Norsemen's favor, though: defensive lineman Damien Lowery, number 52. He was the conference's player of the year in the 2020 (spring 2021) season and a first-team NJCAA All-American. He had eight total tackles against Trinity Valley and had a sack, and added a forced fumble.

Now, for KC, who blistered Blinn, 49-17. The Rangers have won both games so far (Tyler and Blinn) and in both, scored 49 points. The defense has allowed just 45 points.

KC was tied with Blinn, 7-all, at the end of the first quarter and then blew their doors off, scoring 42 points the rest of the way, and holding Blinn to 10.

The Rangers had a ridiculous 760 yards of total offense, like something out of a Madden game, including 604 passing yards. They rushed as a unit for 156 yards, and averaged a whopping 18.9 yards a play.

KC's pass rush was deadly: eight sacks by the Blue Steel unit, to use Will Massey's nickname.

Quarterback Malcolm Mays, a sophomore from Spring, Texas who was the national player of the week two weeks ago, should have honestly won it again for his performance against Blinn: 15-of-22 for 425 yards and five touchdowns. Zeek Freeman caught two of those scores, on just the two catches for 156 yards. Tyrese Heard, Marques Pearson, Cassius Allen, Bailee Davenport and Garrison Johnson also each all scored in the game.

Eduardo Jaimes went 7-of-7 in extra points, and Kadarion Johnson led a large group of defensive players who had sacks: Johnson had two.

The Rangers will have to avoid looking ahead to next week's road game: New Mexico Military.