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Jun 11, 2023

Best for Vest: TJC honors late AD Kevin Vest prior to football game

Sports Editor I am a native Tylerite and I grew up reading the Tyler Morning Telegraph and The Tyler Courier-Times. My parents took both the morning and afternoon papers. I came to work here 35 years

Sports Editor

I am a native Tylerite and I grew up reading the Tyler Morning Telegraph and The Tyler Courier-Times. My parents took both the morning and afternoon papers. I came to work here 35 years ago at the age of 23, right after college.

Before Saturday's football opener, Tyler Junior College honored their late athletic director.

A video tribute and a moment of silence honoring Kevin Vest was held before the TJC and Kilgore College game in Tyler. Vest passed away in early August after battling cancer.

OPENING WEEKEND

Temperatures may have been in triple digits for almost every day in August, but it was time for a bit of football in the Lone Star State.

In the Southwest Junior College Football Conference, a couple of games were tight while three others were blowouts as the season got underway.

Trinity Valley rallied in the fourth quarter for a 31-24 victory over No. 11 Snow (Utah) on Thursday in Malakoff. The Cardinals scored with 10 seconds remaining to take the lead.

Saturday's results included No. 2 Kilgore beating Tyler, 49-35; Hutchinson (Kansas) scoring a 41-6 win over No. 9 Navarro in Corsicana; Cisco stopping TWA College (Austin), 57-7, in Cisco; and No. 14 New Mexico Military Institute ran past St. George Eagles (Utah), 75-17, in Roswell, New Mexico.

Blinn's scheduled game with Louisiana Community College was canceled.

Thanks to the big win over the Bulldogs, Hutchinson bolted up the NJCAA poll to No. 1 after being ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll.

The Blue Dragons are followed by Iowa Western (1-0), Northwest Mississippi (0-0), Kilgore (1-0), Garden City (Kansas) (1-0), Jones (Mississippi) (0-0), Trinity Valley (1-0), East Mississippi (0-0) and Snow (0-1).

Rounding out the top 15 are: 11, Georgia Military (0-0); 12, Lackwanna (Pennsylvania) (0-0); 13, Butler (Kansas) (0-1); 14, New Mexico Military (1-0); and Navarro (0-1).

KILGORE VS. TYLER

In Tyler, University of Mississippi transfer wide receiver Chris Marshall was hot from the start, stretching the field for KC.

Marshall (6-3, 205) first played a season at Texas A&M (suspended twice) before transferring to Ole Miss. The former 5-star player from Fort Bend Thurgood Marshall in Missouri City, Texas participated in spring drills in Oxford, before being dismissed from the team for what Rebels Coach Lane Kiffen deemed a "violation of team rules."

The speedy, big receiver was spectacular at adjusting to the football. He had six receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns (70, 7).

Ranger quarterback Cameron Peters, a sophomore from Houston, threw for 392 yards with four touchdown passes, along with two rushing TDs (1, 3). Running back Kaden Meredith led the Rangers in rushing with 18 carries for 83 yards and a 2-yard TD.

Apache QB Jaden Pete made his debut as starter, thowing for 310 yards and three TDs, while rushing for 70 yards and another score.

Pete threw TD passes of 34 and seven yards to Tray Taylor and a 32-yarder to Logan Johnson. He scored on a 1-yard dash.

Arabia Bradford had a nifty 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, that got the Apaches within 21-14 with 3:58 remaining before halftime.

Former Tyler Legacy High School kicker kicker Christian Baxter was 4-for-4 on PATs.

Despite nearly 1,000 yards of total offense (544 by KC and 426 by Tyler) there was only one turnover.

Taylor had four catches for 89 yards for TJC with teammate Gabe Adams grabbing six receptions for 47 yards. Mekhi Rice caught five passes for 60 yards.

Tyler defensive back Eldric Griffin, a transfer from Mississippi State, forced a key fumble. Ziggy Loa recovered the fumble and also had two quarterback pressures.

SNOW VS. TVCC

The Top 15 matchup between Snow and Trinity Valley was held down the road from Athens at Tiger Stadium in Malakoff. Bruce Field in Athens was unvailable.

The Cardinals rallied from a two-touchdown first-quarter deficit to knock off the visiting Badgers.

TVCC quarterback Darion Peace was playing on his old stomping grounds as his high school field. Peace sparked the victory by connecting on 21 of 33 passing attempts for 350 yards and a touchdown.

He threw to 14 different receivers, led by three catches each from Rayshawn Glover (57 yards), Dylan Robinson (51 yards, TD) and Hymond Drinkard (37 yards).

Snow led 14-7 after the first quarter and tied the game at 21-21 and 24-24 in the fourth quarter.

With the game tied at 24-24, the Cardinals took over at their own 87. Overcoming a third-and-19, TVC made the first down deep in Badger territory when Steven Stackhouse made a leaping catch on a toss from Peace.

Two players, Drinkard swept around left end, receiving a block from Andrew Allison, to score from the four for the go-ahead score.

TVCC avenged last year's 36-14 loss in Utah.

LOOKING AHEAD

This week's games include: Gordon Prep (Oklahoma) vs. Blinn, 7 p.m. (Central) Saturday, Cub Stadium, Brenham, Texas; NMMI vs. Snow, 7 p.m. (Mountain) Saturday, Terry Foote Stadium, Ephraim, Utah; and Independence (Kansas) vs. Northeaster Oklahoma A&M, 6 p.m. (Central) Saturday, Red Robertson Field, Miami, Oklahoma.

Tyler, Kilgore, Navarro, Cisco and Trinity Valley are open this week.

TWITTER: @PhilHicksETFS

Sports Editor

I am a native Tylerite and I grew up reading the Tyler Morning Telegraph and The Tyler Courier-Times. My parents took both the morning and afternoon papers. I came to work here 35 years ago at the age of 23, right after college.