NAVARRO (1-3/0-3) at (10) KILGORE (3-1/2-1)
3 pm Saturday | R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium | Kilgore, Tx
SERIES MEETING: Saturday's game will be the 91st dating back to 1949
THE SERIES: This series is dead even – 43-43-4. The Rangers have a three-game winning streak in the series. Navarro last won 37-32 at Corsicana in 2018 under coach Jim Gush. The Bulldogs' last win at Kilgore was a 52-45 decision in 2016.
WEATHER: Cloudy skies, humid conditions and about a 60 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms are expected at kickoff. Temperatures will approach 80 degrees with 76 percent humidity. South winds at 5 mph may increase to gusts of 9 mph.
THE 'SPRING GAME': Kilgore beat Navarro 52-38 at Tiger Stadium in Corsicana as Malcolm Mays threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns, Kenneith Lacy rushed for 201 and two more scores. Then, the Rangers added a 62-yard touchdown pass with 0:05 left to tack on misery. KC's 658 yards offense broke evenly with 336 rushing and 322 passing.
LAST WEEK'S GAMES: The road was unkind to both teams last Saturday. Northeastern Oklahoma won its Homecoming and Athletic Hall of Fame game 39-15 over NC as the Golden Norsemen borrowed a page from NMMI's playbook and piled up 465 rushing yards on 59 carries. Quarterback Perry Olsen and Jomani Jones each rushed for two touchdowns. The Norsemen also got a 66-yard fumble return from Devin Hembry as they won for only second time in their last 11 games. Meanwhile, at the Wool Bowl in Roswell, NM, unbeaten New Mexico Military thrashed unbeaten, second-ranked Kilgore 37-26 as second-team All-America Anthony Grant ran 35-239-1, and dual-threat quarterback Diego Pavia passed for one score (12-22-135-1-0) and ran for another (9-29-1). NMMI took advantage of four KC fumbles, two Malcolm Myers interceptions and 10 Ranger penalties totaling 106 yards in assessments.
STREAMING: View the game on the Kilgore Sports Network Facebook page and also on the Kilgore College YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/kilgorecollege1935 Locally, Steve Petty and Ronnie Greer will handle play-by-play coverage on KAND-1340 AM and 104.9 FM. Audio streaming will be on kandradio.com
COACHES: Scott Parr, in his third season at Navarro, is 10-12 overall. Willie Gooden, a Hempstead, Tx., native, also is in his third season as head coach and 12th on the KC staff. Gooden walked on, earned scholarship and all-conference honors in 2000-01, and became a member of the KC Hall of Fame. A Northeastern State University graduate, he also played on KC's undefeated 2001 team.
SIZING UP KILGORE: The Rangers average 39.5 points and 571 yards. KC norms 205 rushing and 355 passing yards. Defensively, Kilgore yields 20.5 points and 365 yards – split 194.5 against the rush and 162 against the pass.
SIZING UP NAVARRO: The Bulldogs average 34.5 points and 484.3 yards. The 'Dawgs rush for 169.5 and pass for 314.8.
ABOUT NC: The Bulldogs desperately seek to battle their way out of the SWJCFC cellar, snap a three-game losing streak and claim their first conference win of the season. Navarro last lost three consecutive games during 2019 when Parr returned as head coach, but the Bulldogs rallied that year to finish 6-5, qualify for the playoffs as a No. 4 seed and win the SWJCFC Championship. NC hasn't lost four straight conference games in a single season since 1997 (Blinn, Tyler, NEO, Cisco).
ABOUT KC: Despite losing for the first time after falling behind NMMI 27-6, the Rangers managed to finish with 716 yards offense from 60 plays (11.9 per). Kilgore achieved balance as quarterback Malcolm Mays hit 21-of-38 passes for 364 yards with four TD passes, and Kendrick Rhymes led a 352-yard rushing attack with 255 yards. Mays' top target was Cassius Allen, who caught 6-101-3. Kilgore's first-ever regular-season loss to NMMI dropped the Rangers from the NJCAA's Top 2 ranking to No. 10.
RANGERS TO WATCH – QB Malcolm Mays, RB Kendrick Rhymes, WR Cassius Allen, WR Marques Pearson, WR Zeek Freeman, Def – Keith Harris, Jordan Moore, Tristan Driggers.
BULLDOGS TO WATCH – QB Qua Gray, RB Isaiah Robinson, WR Jeremiah Aaron, WR Quentin Lee, WR Zavion Taylor, WR Karl Reynolds, OG Kamon Bradford, C Jawaun Singletary, DE Khalil White, DE Kenneth Ellison, DT Mike Sandjo, LB Nate Maulsby, CB C.J. Bosket.
PASSING ON NJCAA INDIVIDUAL STAT WARS: Kilgore's Malcolm Mays ranks second in pass yardage (12…), per game (321.3) and touchdown passes (15), while Navarro's Gray ranks third in pass yardage (1225), per game (306.3) and fifth in TD passes (10)….Five of the NJCAA's Top 10 ranked receivers will be on the field: KC's Cassius Allen (17-286-5), Zeek Freeman (10-350-4) and Marques Pearson (12-180-3) duel NC's Jeremiah Aaron (19-441-3), Louis Moore (14-241-3), and Zavion Taylor (18-267-2)….
SWJCFC THIS WEEK: Navarro at Kilgore, 3 pm; Cisco at TVCC, 3 pm; NMMI at Blinn, 7 pm. (Non-Conference) Ellsworth CC, Ia., at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 1 pm. Open Date – Tyler.
SWJCFC NEXT WEEK: Northeastern Oklahoma A&M at Tyler, 11 a.m.; Blinn v Navarro at Midlothian ISD Stadium, 3 pm; Kilgore at Cisco, 3 pm. Open Dates – TVCC and NMMI.
NAVARRO'S PROJECTED STARTING TWO-DEEP
OFFENSE
T Lysander Moeolo | 54 Phillip Houston
G 70 Kamon Bradford | 67 Quinterion Winn
C 65 Jawaun Singletary | 64 Angel Zamora
G 72 Donovan Ford | 63 Timothy Metevia
T 79 Elliott Bowser | 60 Garyeon Smallwood
QB 18 Qua Gray | 16 Jack Turner
RB 4 Isaiah Robinson | 28 Elijah Hines
X 1 Jeremiah Aaron | 83 Koby Cooper
H 3 Zavion Taylor | 12 Adonis Scott
Y 2 Quentin Lee | 81 Brandon Hawkins
Z 10 Karl Reynolds | 83 Koby Cooper
PK 41 Alexis Lopez | 77 Antonio Onofre
DEFENSE
DE 29 Jayden Hughes | 34 Khalil White
DT 9 Mike Sandjo | 92 Reco Griffin
DT 55 R.J. Evans | 95 Viontay Robinson
DE 27 Kenneth Ellison | 96 Caleb Sims
LB 49 Nate Maulsby | 50 Tyler Farmer
LB 37 Chatavies Johnson | 45 LaQualon Hale
LB 24 Preston Hodge | 33 Keith Hartgraves
CB 6 Tyrecus Davis } 46 Noah Bolton
CB 15 C.J. Bosket | 17 Brandon Davis
R 19 Tyrone Wilson | 23 Jakennon Moore
S 20 Layne O'Dell | 38 Jalen Gray
P 47 Ryan Shamburger | 77 Antonio Onofre
-- Preview by MIKE MONTFORT
