Apaches Take Down Blinn in Double OT and Take Sole Possession of First Place in SWJCFC

By Chase Upton 

Brenham, TEXAS- Tyler Junior College's football team picked up a 13-10 road victory over Blinn College (2-3, 1-3) in double overtime, and improved to 4-2 on the season. 

With Tyler's win and a loss by No.11 Cisco College (3-2, 3-1) to New Mexico Military Institute (3-3, 2-2), TJC now has sole possession of first place in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference with a 4-0 conference record. 

Blinn jumped on the board first in this one as they were able to recover a Tyler fumble and turn it into seven as quarterback Rylan Wooten found wide receiver Austin Abram III to give the Buccaneers a 7-0 lead with 5:44 remaining in the first quarter. 

Tyler wasn't able to score in the first half, but thanks to two clutch fourth down stops by the Apaches including a Blinn missed FG attempt at the 7:34 mark in the second, and a sack by William Cornelson on fourth and eight with under two minutes in the half, TJC was able to go into halftime down only 7-0. 

Coming out of halftime Blinn was able to get within field goal range with a chance to extend their lead to double digits, but TJC was able to force a miss and keep the Buccaneer lead at seven with 11:25 left in the third. 

After the missed FG Tyler was able to open their end of the scoring by putting together a stellar 10-play, 80-yard drive that was punched in by way of a 4-yard TD run from running back Lavarion Logan, and finished off by a Christian Baxter extra point to make it 7-7. 

To start the fourth quarter Blinn pushed the ball down the field, and due to multiple Tyler penalties, had two chances at fourth and goal with the ball placed on the goal line, but the star-studded Apache defense picked up yet another clutch stop and kept the score at seven a piece with 12 minutes remaining in regulation. 

The two teams would take turns punting for the remainder of the fourth quarter until the football gods attempted to give TJC a chance to put this one away. 

The Apaches punted the ball to Blinn with a little over a minute remaining in regulation and the punt hit off a Blinn player, giving Tyler the ball in the red zone with under a minute to go. 

Tyler wouldn't be able to capitalize on the Buccaneer mistake as regulation would end with Blinn blocking a TJC 20-yard field goal attempt to keep the game tied 7-7 and force overtime. 

In the first overtime, the two teams exchanged field goals, a 44-yarder by Blinn's Max Nowak to make it 10-7 Buccaneers, and a 22-yarder by Tyler's Christian Baxter to end the first overtime tied 10-10. 

In the second overtime, TJC started with the ball and took a 13-10 lead by a Christian Baxter 35-yard FG. 

Blinn got the ball back with a chance to tie or win, but Tyler defensive lineman Ziggy Loa had other plans as he forced a fumble from Blinn QB Rylan Wooten, ending the game and sealing the fourth straight win for the Apaches. 

The Apache defense proved once again that they are one of, if not the top defense in the country, as they only allowed 200 yards of total offense to Blinn and haven't given up over 13 points for four straight games. 

TJC will take on Cisco College at 5 p.m. Oct. 19 for their annual pink-out game as they look to extend their win streak to five games and remain in first place in the SWJCFC.