The Blinn College football team will look to even its record in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) when it welcomes No. 9 Navarro College to town this week.
The Buccaneers host the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Cub Stadium in Brenham, Texas, looking to improve their conference mark to 1-1.
“We have a good opportunity to get back on track this week after a tough loss to open conference play, and I think we’re prepared for the challenge ahead,” Blinn head coach said. “We had some first-game mistakes last week in what really amounted to our first game for a lot of our players, and while we can get past those, we also better learn from it. Our players have shown their resiliency and they were excited to get back to work on Monday.”
Blinn (1-1, 0-1 SWJCFC) opened the season with a pair of bye weeks sandwiched around a 45-0 victory over Transformation With Athletics College in Week 2. In that game, many starters didn’t dress while others saw limited snaps to prevent injury. Entering their conference opener last week against New Mexico Military Institute – a team playing its fourth game of the year – the Bucs showed some offensive rust but still racked up 333 yards.
Despite a hard-fought effort, Blinn fell to NMMI 21-16 after getting deep into Broncos territory in the final minute but ultimately failing to score.
Sophomore quarterback Rylan Wooten said the team adjusted to the speed of the game in real time and believes the Bucs will be more polished against Navarro.
“It took us some time to settle in, get into a rhythm and find our confidence,” said Wooten, who finished with 114 yards passing to go with a team-high 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. “We came out and played hard, defense played a great game, and I thought the effort was there for 60 minutes, so there were plenty of positives to take away from that and we’ll use those going forward.”
Blinn’s defense shined against NMMI, an effort it hopes to build on against Navarro (2-1, 1-1). The Bucs allowed 409 yards of offense against the Broncos, but limited NMMI to just 21 points while also adding five sacks, nine tackles for a loss, and an interception by freshman defensive back Kameron Griffin. Blinn’s defense also prevented NMMI from running out the clock on its final drive, forcing a punt that granted the offense a chance at the comeback.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore quarterback Rylan Wooten throws a pass during practice earlier this season)
Five different Bucs finished with at least 10 tackles, including a team-high 16 for redshirt freshman linebacker Jadon Ducos.
“We knew that game against NMMI was going to be a learning experience for us,” Ducos said. “We played well, but we came up short. Monday came and we watched film, saw what we needed to correct and now we’re turning our attention to Navarro. We know they’re playing well and they’re ranked pretty high, but focusing too much on that will take your mind off of the actual game of football. We’re just going to continue to come out and try to win every day so we can be the best team on Saturday and win.”
Navarro enters this week’s matchup following a 23-13 conference loss to No. 5 Kilgore College, dropping the Bulldogs from fourth to ninth in the top-15 poll.
Navarro has shown strength in both the passing and running games, with 869 passing yards and 502 rushing yards through three games.
Freshman quarterback Ryan Shackleton has shared time under center with sophomore Mason Shorb, but Shackleton owns most of the Bulldogs’ passing stats with 357 yards, four touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions. Sophomore wide receiver Tim Burns has been the top target in the passing attack with 234 yards and four TDs.
On the ground, freshman running back Clay Thevenin has a team-best 199 yards and two scores.
The Bulldog defense has surrendered 346 yards per game this season, including 206 on the ground. That could be an area of focus for the Blinn offense, which has amassed a robust 612 rushing yards through two games, led by 146 for sophomore Kelton Weathers and 114 for freshman Justin Howard.
“Navarro executes offensively with some great quarterback play, a fantastic running back, and a fast receiver,” Mahon said. “They are a veteran group and they’re coached well. They also have a fast defense that will give you some things, but take some things away at the same time, so it’s going to be on us to execute our game plan in order to be successful.”
Fans unable to attend the game in person can follow the action live by clicking the video link available at www.buccaneersports.com/sports/football/schedule/2024
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 national championships since 1987.
