The Blinn College football team opens Southwest Junior College Football Conference play with a tough road trip in Week 2.
The Buccaneers pay a visit to rival Cisco College for a 7 p.m. tilt Saturday, Sept. 9, in Cisco, Texas.
Both teams are 1-0 and are coming off big home wins in their season openers: Blinn by a score of 66-0 over Gordon Fine Arts & Sports Academy on Sept. 2, and Cisco by way of a 57-7 triumph over TWA College on Aug. 26.
The Bucs and Wranglers are set to tangle for the 12th time since the 2012 season, with Blinn holding a 7-4 record in 11 contests that includes a 4-1 mark in Cisco. The Bucs captured last season’s meeting in Brenham, Texas, 21-13.
“We have end goals for this season, but we can’t get to those end goals without winning this one,” Blinn head coach Ryan Mahon said. “Cisco has a new head coach in Stephen Lee, and they didn’t play any spring ball so they have one game under his regime. I’m sure they have just as much room for improvement between game one and game two as we do, and we may see a completely different team Saturday than we did on film.”
What Mahon and the Bucs are certain to see this weekend is Wrangler quarterback Christian Kaopua. The sophomore went just 6 of 18 against Blinn in 2022, amassing 78 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Kaopua has gotten 2023 off on the right foot after the signal-caller completed 11 of 13 passes for 179 yards and three scores against TWA College.
“They have a very good quarterback … a guy who scares us,” Mahon said. “He extends the pocket, has a lively arm, and is patient, and he has enough skill players around him that he can make a play on you. We’re going to have to cover for a while and we better get after him.”
Cisco’s running attack also had success against TWA, totaling 239 yards and four touchdowns. Freshman Kyle Kennard had 84 yards and a TD while sophomore Trae’el Harris finished with 89 yards, including a run of 40 yards.
Freshman wide receiver Raylan Hubbard led all Wrangler receivers with five grabs for 72 yards. Sophomore wideouts Miles Denson, Corey Sandolph, and Kye Stone each hauled in scoring passes.
“Their quarterback has a great arm and he and the guys around him make plays,” Blinn sophomore linebacker Caden Holt said. “It’s going to be on us to limit what they can do offensively and give our offense a chance to score more points than they do.”
Blinn’s offensive playbook should be open against Cisco, as the full potential of the Buccaneer offense wasn’t realized in the victory over Gordon. As Blinn pulled away against the Panthers, Mahon pumped the brakes as his team totaled just 34 offensive plays and three total passes. In those 34 plays, however, the Bucs racked up 386 yards, eight rushing touchdowns, and one score through the air.
“We feel like we’re going to be able to handle ourselves well with the offensive line we have up front,” freshman running back Antonio Martin said. “Our quarterbacks, our running backs, and our receivers, we’ve been focusing on and communicating about effort and being able to depend on one another to do your individual job. I think if we do our jobs and play how we know we can play, we’ll have success.”
Blinn is eyeing a 2-0 start to its campaign for a second consecutive season. Mahon said road wins are a key ingredient to the success of any team.
“This is the furthest we travel all season without making it an overnight trip,” Mahon said of the nine-hour round trip. “Getting the win this weekend is going to take togetherness, focus, good habits with their eating and sleeping, and positive play on Saturday. If we do all of those things, we’re going to get ourselves a big one this weekend.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 44 NJCAA national championships since 1987.?
