TJC Captures Bowl Win Over Garden City
Article Courtesy of Brock Sisney, Sports Correspondent, Tyler Morning Telegraph
PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Tyler Junior College defense suffocated the Garden City Broncbusters during a blustery Sunday afternoon for the fifth edition of the Football Capital of Kansas Bowl.
The Apaches held Garden City to (minus)-2 net rushing yards, sacked quarterbacks Jake Curran and Akeem Jones nine times for losses of 47 yards, knocked Curran out of the game and recovered three fumbles.
Tyler scored 34 unanswered points from late in the second quarter to early in the fourth en route to a 47-21 victory.
Sophomore linebacker Larry Thomas earned Defensive MVP honors, recording nine tackles, 5.0 for loss and 3.0 sacks.
"I think our defensive front really played well," Tyler head coach Danny Palmer said. "Will Coleman, Wawa Leota and Colton Moorehead. I never really noticed but Larry Thomas must have played really good. He got the MVP. I was fussing at him more than I was congratulating him but he's a good kid. They threw the ball well early in the game and we made some poor decisions but we started getting better. I think the difference in the ballgame was our defensive front."
Life was miserable for Curran and Jones all day. Coleman matched Thomas in tackles and had 2.5 sacks. Leota had four tackles and 2.0 sacks. Moorehead, Treavor Pugh and Motekiai Maile each added 0.5 sacks.
Garden City made a commitment to the pass early on. The Broncbusters' all-purpose dynamo Tyreek Hill had no first-half carries and only five on the day.
"We knew they would spread out," Palmer said. "They had not done it as much. No. 3 (Hill) was one of their leading receivers all year long. . . . He's a terrific football player and he'll be a great Division I player."
Palmer credited his offensive front, on a day when each the running and passing attacks produced over 240 yards (285 rush, 245 pass) and three scores.
The first half found Tyler experiencing more success on the ground, relying heavily on freshman running back Terrance Taylor.
Taylor carried the ball 14 times for 61 yards and two scores. Sophomore quarterback Randy Price ran the ball another seven times. The Thomas-Price combination totaled 21 of the 24 first-half rushing attempts.
It's not like the Apaches were not passing the football in the first half — 18 attempts for Price — but the success came in the second half as Price fired three scoring passes (55, 2, 72 yards) en route to Offensive MVP. Price connected with Lamar Carraway on two of those scores, the first to open the second-half scoring and the second to give Tyler a 40-9 lead with 14 minutes, 7 seconds left on the clock.
"They were very physical on defense," Palmer said. "They did a real good job with that 3-4. Those outside defenders, we couldn't tell. Finally, we just guessed with them and threw a play-action. They all came in; Lamar Carraway ran by them, he's probably the fastest player in our whole league. I felt Randy handled the ball real well; I wish he would've ran the ball a little better but how many touchdown passes did he throw? (Palmer's told three.) I kinda like that."
Price finished with 245 yards on 14 of 29 passing.
Chaston Bennett dominated the carries after halftime and churned out 116 yards and one TD on 21 carries. Bennett's 20-yard rumble closed out the scoring.
"Offensive line was the difference," Palmer said.
Both head coach Matt Miller and star linebacker D'vonta Derricott were suspended Sunday for Garden City, who did not need any more challenges Sunday.
"We turned the ball over," Garden City defensive coordinator and acting head coach Jeff Kelly said. "We had some breakdown plays that we should have had them stopped dead in the water. They had three big plays on third down. And, we turned the ball over. You can't win a game like that. It don't go together, stats don't add up."
Kelly focused on a key two-play sequence in the third quarter.
On a fourth-and-6 at the Garden City 48, the Broncbusters went for a fake and Brady Bean busted loose for a 19-yard gain down to the Tyler 33. However, on the very next play, Coleman sacked Curran, knocked the ball loose and eventually, after several players touched the wily and elusive pigskin; Treavor Pugh returned it 23 yards to the Garden City 16.
"You can't turn the ball over, especially when you get down on the 30-yard line," Kelly said. "You can't turn the ball over. We've got to hold onto the ball. We need to at least try to get three points out of it because we do have a good kicker. I mean, it is what it is. You do something like the fake punt; you have to capitalize on it because it's a waste of play afterwards. We ran that (fake punt) for one reason, to get them off their shoes and to try and score."
Five plays later, Price hit Joshua Reynolds for a 2-yard TD and 30-9 lead.
Garden City receiver Brandon Snell caught six passes for 104 yards and one 43-yard touchdown strike from reserve quarterback Jones.
On the defensive side, Colby Hamel and Alex Neuschafer each recorded 13 tackles.
Tyler ends its season 9-2 and Garden City 2-8.
NO. 13 APACHES 47, BRONCBUSTERS 21
TJC6 10 17 14 — 47
GCCC 0 9 0 12 — 21
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
TJC — Terrance Taylor 5 run (kick failed) 3:43
SECOND QUARTER
GCCC — Alex Neuschafer safety 11:17
GCCC — Monterio Burchfield 11 pass from Jake Curran (Tyler Peterson kick) 8:11
TJC — Taylor 2 run (Ljundrim Kaba kick) 4:26
TJC — Kaba 20 FG :24
THIRD QUARTER
TJC — Lamar Carraway 55 pass from Randy Price (Kaba kick) 13:50
TJC — Joshua Reynolds 2 pass from Price (Kaba kick) 10:31
TJC — Kaba 25 FG 2:03
FOURTH QUARTER
TJC — Carraway 72 pass from Price (Kaba kick) 14:07
GCCC — Nile Daniel 5 pass from Akeem Jones (kick failed) 13:36
GCCC — Brandon Snell 43 pass from Jones (kick failed) 8:03
TJC — Chaston Bennett 20 run (Kaba kick) 2:42
TEAM STATISTICS
TJCGCCC
First downs2415
Rushing285-2
Passing14-29-018-35-1
Passing yds.245216
Total offense530214
Penalties-yds.10-9012-118
Fumbles-lost1-14-3
Third downs9-174-15
Fourth downs1-31-4
Red zone6-62-2
TOP33:1326:47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — TJC, Chaston Bennett 21-117, Terrance Taylor 17-80, Randy Price 9-58, Andre Sanders 1-24, Leroy Dobbins 2-7, Lamar Carraway 2-4, TEAM 2-(-4). GCCC, Brady Bean 9-33, Tyreek Hill 5-17, Michael Gerst 1-7, TEAM 1-(-3), Akeem Jones 1-(-6), Jake Curran 12-(-50).
PASSING — TJC, Price 14-29-245-3-0. GCCC, Curran 11-21-117-1-0, Jones 7-14-99-2-1.
RECEIVING — TJC, Joshua Reynolds 5-64, Carraway 4-159, Willie Robinson 4-17, Jonathan Epps 1-5. GCCC, Brandon Snell 6-104, Monterio Burchfield 5-55, Hill 4-27, Nile Daniel 3-30.