Posted 9:47 am Sunday, September 05, 2010
TJC Earns OT Win Over Kilgore, 30-27
By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer
It won't even count in the conference standings, but the Apaches celebrated Saturday night's victory as if they had won the league championship. And for good reason.
Staff Writer
It won't even count in the conference standings, but the Apaches celebrated Saturday night's victory as if they had won the league championship. And for good reason.
Former Lufkin standout Jeffrey Claybon threw a tying touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in regulation, and then Claybon scored on a 1-yard sneak in overtime to give No. 14 Tyler Junior College a thrilling 30-27 win over rival Kilgore College on Earl Campbell Field at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.
Kilgore (0-2) had the ball first in overtime -- starting from the TJC 25-yard line -- and Ryan Bustin's 26-yard field goal put the Rangers up 27-24. The Apaches held Kilgore on three plays inside the 10 to force the field goal.
TJC (1-1) needed six plays to find the end zone. Claybon, a sophomore who did not play in the first half, kept for 10 yards on third down to the 8. Claybon then ran for 4 and Ky'Ordric Black took a handoff and picked up three more to the 1.
A Kilgore offsides penalty advanced the ball to the half-yard line to set up Claybon's game-winner.
Claybon capped a nine-play, 68-yard drive in regulation with a 34-yard pass into the end zone that fellow Lufkin grad Jabroski Smiley pulled out of the air. Jorge Martinez kicked the extra point to make it 24-24.
Before Claybon fired the TD pass downfield, the TJC passing game had struggled. Claybon threw one interception and starter Luke Halpin was picked off twice in the first half.
Kilgore's starting quarterback Hans Cook hurt the Apaches with his running and throwing before leaving the game with an apparent injury early in the fourth quarter.
Backup QB Andrew Jackson threw a 7-yard TD pass to Earnest Thompson to give the Rangers a 24-17 lead with 3:29 left in the fourth quarter.
Cook completed all 10 of his passes in the first half for 109 yards, including one touchdown for Kilgore, while Halpin threw a pair of interceptions in Rangers territory for TJC.
Kilgore grabbed a 17-10 lead after a 12-play, 65-yard drive late in the first half. Cook converted all three third downs he faced with completions of 18 and 14 yards, and then a 14-yard run after being flushed from the pocket.
Cook called his own number on the next play, keeping for 8 yards and getting 3 extra on a horse-collar tackle, placing the ball at the 3-yard line. Running back Dexter Pratt scored two plays later to give the Rangers a 17-10 lead with 37 seconds left in the half.
TJC advanced quickly to the Kilgore 34 with an 11-yard pass and a Kilgore personal foul, but Halpin threw an interception under duress.
Kilgore scored the only points of the first quarter on Bustin's 40-yard field goal, capping an 11-play drive.
The Apaches achieved their initial first down on the ensuing series, which ended with Black's 2-yard touchdown to give TJC a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. The Apaches kept the drive alive on fourth-and-1 when Halpin threw a short pass to Smiley, who turned it into a 23-yard pickup.
Cook threw a 34-yard TD pass on the next series to put Kilgore up 10-7, but Martinez tied it for TJC with a 41-yard field goal with 7:18 left in the half.
