The No. 3 Tyler Junior College football team will get an early start on Saturday.
The Apaches are traveling to West Texas to take on conference foe Cisco College. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but Dr. Tim Drain, TJC athletic director, announced on Thursday the game will have an earlier kickoff.
"Due to the threat of thunderstorms in the Cisco area Saturday night, the TJC vs. Cisco game time has been moved up 2 hours to 5 p.m.," Drain stated in a release.
The game is set for Chesley Stadium in Cisco.
The Apaches are 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in Southwest Junior College Football Conference play. The Wranglers are 0-4 and 0-3.
Other SWJCFC games on Saturday include: Trinity Valley (3-1) at Arkansas Baptist (2-2), 1 p.m.; Navarro (2-1, 1-1) at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (1-2, 1-2), 6 p.m.; and Kilgore (2-0, 1-0) at Blinn (2-2, 1-2), 7 p.m.
TJC's next home game is Saturday, Oct. 1, against Blinn. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
TENNIS
Tyler Junior College's Ferran Calvo went up against the big boys last week in the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Midland.
The Apaches sophomore from Valenica, Spain, made the finals of the prestigious event at the Midland Racquet Club.
In a thrilling three-setter, Calvo finished as runner-up to the University of Texas' Colin Markes, a sophomore from Austin. Markes, a Round Rock Westwood High School graduate, won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Four TJC teammates joined Calvo at the tournament that is directed by former Apache and Longhorn great and TJC Circle of Honor member Scott Stewart.
Freshman Jorge Martinez (Elche, Spain) reached the semifinals of the backdraw. Sophomore Enrique Pardo (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) reached the round of 16. Calvo and Martinez teamed up together to reach the quarterfinals in doubles play.
On the women's side, sophomore Montana Moore (Bradenton, Florida) got to the semifinals in the backdraw and then teamed with freshman Jasmine Asghar (London) to reach the doubles quarterfinals.
This weekend TJC is hosting one of the ITA Regional Championships, featuring some of the top men's and women's players across the country.
More than 8,000 student-athletes from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, junior and community colleges compete in 85 USTA/ITA Regional Championships around the country.
The tournament on John Peterson Courts at the JoAnn Medlock Murphy Tennis Center begins at 9 a.m. Friday and continues through Sunday. The doubles finals are set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The singles championships are 9 a.m. Sunday.
Admission is free.
HOOP-IT-UP
In a vote that will make the fans of TJC, Kilgore College, Trinity Valley and Jacksonville College happy, the Region XIV Conference school presidents voted to have the annual tournament at Jacksonville ISD's John Alexander Gymnasium the next two years. The tournament is scheduled for March.
The tournament was held on the Angelina College campus last year.
TWITTER: @PhilHicksETFS