No.12 Apaches Battle No. 9 Kilgore College for Annual Homecoming Game
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kilgore College | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
|
Tyler Junior College | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
By Chase Upton
Tyler, TEXAS- Tyler Junior College's No.12 nationally ranked football team will battle No.9 Kilgore College (5-1, 3-1) at Christus TMF Rose Stadium at 3 p.m. Oct. 26 for TJC's annual homecoming game.
These two squads come into this Southwest Junior College Football Conference showdown as not only the top two teams in the conference, but they are also both ranked within the top 12 of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 rankings.
Tyler enters with an undefeated 5-0 conference record and a 5-2 overall mark; their last game was a commanding 40-0 victory over Cisco College (3-3, 3-2), where they set a season-high for points and picked up their first shutout thus far this season.
Kilgore comes in with a 3-1 conference record, 5-1 overall, and is coming off a 26-13 win over Trinity Valley Community College (3-4, 1-4). Kilgore's only loss on the season came Sep. 28 when they fell 35-30 to Cisco College.
Last year, Tyler dropped its two games against Kilgore, and the Rangers went on to make it to the NJCAA national semi-final, but this is not last year's Apaches.
The star-studded Apache defense currently has 12 players who hold at least one Division 1 offer, and for good reason. TJC currently leads the country in sacks (37) and is only allowing 13.6 points per game, good for fourth in the country.
This will be the 132nd meeting between these two well-respected programs, with the record currently sitting at 63-67-1 in favor of the Rangers.
With a win over Kilgore, Tyler will secure home-field advantage for the SWJCFC semi-final on Nov. 16, and if they advance to the championship on Nov. 23, they'll also host that game.
Although this is the two teams' first matchup of the season, it likely won't be the last, as they could face off again in either of those two SWJCFC post-season games.
