The Blinn College football team has a winning season in its sights as it opens 2023 with a roster composed of veteran leadership and promising young talent.
The Buccaneers get their first chance to put it all together in their season opener when they host Louisiana Community Christian at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Cub Stadium in Brenham.
“We like the leadership we have on this team, and we like the talent that we’ve recruited,” eighth-year Blinn head coach Ryan Mahon said. “We always try to out-recruit the guys we have returning because that’s our job as coaches. We’re always trying to improve our team. I think we brought in guys who are pushing the envelope and forcing our older players to get better. It was a great summer for us where we had a good camp. I really saw this team grow on both sides of the football.”
Blinn will look to improve on a 3-6 season in 2022 in which it opened the year 3-0 while reaching No. 12 in the Week 4 NJCAA Division I poll. However, a tough Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) got in the way of the Bucs’ championship hopes.
“Regardless of who you face in this conference, you have to keep your eyes on the prize,” Mahon said. “We’re getting everybody’s best every single Saturday, and we have to rise to the occasion. It’s going to be a grind again this season, and we know that any team can win this conference year to year. But that’s what makes things fun and keeps you on your toes.”
Mahon and the Bucs hope to reach the SWJCFC playoffs and insert themselves into the championship conversation by season’s end with a roster which returns its most experience on the offensive line and in the defensive unit.
Up front, sophomores Giovanny Alegria, Apollo Taylor, William Thursland, and Bryan Hernandez should anchor the offensive line, while Mahon expects freshman newcomers including Eric Aschenbeck and Dominic Eldridge to find themselves in the mix.
(Pictured: Blinn College quarterback looks to pass during a practice Aug. 22, 2023)
The line will be tasked with protecting a pair of freshman NCAA Division I transfers at quarterback – Khalib Johnson (University of Louisville) and Keilon Brown (Georgia State University). Both signal callers are competing for starting reps and will get time under center against Louisiana Community Christian. Both quarterbacks bring a dual-threat play style to the offense.
“I see a lot of competitive spirit here, especially between the offense and defense. We’re trying to make each other better,” Johnson said. “The quarterback room has been especially competitive as we’re supporting each other and pushing each other every day. We just need to continue to go full speed and continue to compete. We’re going to make mistakes, but it’s about competing through it with your very best effort.”
At running back will be sophomore Joshua Mazyck and freshman transfer Antonio Martin (Georgia Tech). Martin described the pairing of himself and Mazyck in the background as “thunder and lightning,” respectively.
“The running backs have been getting after it,” Martin said. “Josh is quick as lightning, and we’ve got thunder with me. The offense as a whole … we’ve been narrowing things down and there’s been healthy competition with everybody pushing each other every day.”
At wide receiver, Blinn will deploy a myriad of fresh faces, including freshman transfer Reggie Givhans III (Charlotte) as well as freshmen Richard Edwards and Ethan Wyatt and sophomores Anthony Dansby and Brooks Rigney.
Mahon said that a strong defense should help the offense along both in practice and in games, as he believes the unit should allow the offense time to develop.
“We feel great about what we can do defensively,” said Mahon, who runs a 4-2-5 defensive scheme. “We have a unit that will keep us in games, no doubt.”
On the defensive line, hotly recruited sophomore defensive end Brient Taylor returns with sophomore defensive lineman Trent Gilbert. Sophomore transfer linebacker Caden Holt (University of Texas-San Antonio), sophomore Price Pruett, and freshmen Jadon Ducos and Jamorion Jackson make up a linebacker corps that drew high praise from Mahon. In the backfield, sophomores Courage Ugochukwu and Maurice Evans will be called on to bring along a deep depth chart of defensive backs that Mahon believes should terrorize opposing passing attacks.
Holt shared his coach’s sentiment.
“Defensively, we’re looking really solid,” he said. “We’ve got great depth; we’re communicating and we’re coming together as a unit. We’re running to the ball and finishing every play. It’s good to see this early in the season. Plus, we have a really good offense to practice against every day. There are days they get after us and then there are days we get after them. There’s been a great back and forth that pushes each unit to be better.”
Following its matchups against Louisiana Community Christian and a Week 2 home tilt against Gordon Prep, Blinn will begin SWJCFC play with a road trip to Cisco College on Saturday, Sept. 9. From there, the Bucs will face conference foes New Mexico Military Institute (Sept. 23), Trinity Valley Community College (Homecoming, Oct. 7), and Kilgore College (Nov. 4) at home, while hitting the road to battle Navarro College (Sept. 30), Tyler Junior College (Oct. 14), and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (Oct. 28).
Kilgore defeated New Mexico Military for the SWJCFC Championship in 2022.
“We feel like it’s our turn to make some noise in this conference,” Mahon said. “The sky’s the limit with our bunch, but you have to be consistent and it’s going to take some luck. If we can stay injury free, be consistent, and show week-to-week improvement, we’ll be very competitive in this conference, and anything is possible after that.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
