Apaches top NEO

MIAMI, Okla. - Brandon Johnson's interception with 20 seconds remaining sealed No. 7 Tyler Junior College's 34-28 win over No. 15 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M on Saturday at Red Robertson Field.

JT Smith, a sophomore from Klein, had touchdown runs of 48 and 31 yards, while placekicker Tyler Dunlop, a sophomore from Euless, booted two field goals (24 and 21), while the Apaches blocked two extra points. NEO also missed two field goals.

TJC quarterback Brennen Wooten, a freshman from San Angelo, tossed a 33-yard TD pass to Whitehouse's Trent Williams for a 10-3 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

The Apaches (3-0, 1-0 SWJCFC) got the ball back when David Hogue, a freshman from Dallas, pounced on a Golden Norsemen (1-2, 1-2) fumble.

Two plays later Smith bolted into the end zone from 31 yards out. Dunlop's PAT made it 17-3.

NEO scored with five seconds left on the clock before halftime as Darwin Thompson scored on a 24-yard TD pass from Cordell Grundy but the extra point was blocked by the Apaches. Thus TJC led 17-9 at halftime.

Jeremy Wilson, a freshman from John Tyler, scored on a 17-yard run in the third to push TJC up 24-9.

After an NEO score (Thompson 3-yard run), Smith found the end zone from 47 yards and TJC led 31-16 with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

NEO pulled within 31-22 on a 16-yard TD pass from Wyatt Steigerwald to Jarel Rowe with 13:10 left in the game. TJC blocked the PAT again.

The Apaches drove to the 4-yard line, but couldn't punch it in and Dunlop added a 21-yard field goal that staked TJC to a 34-22 advantage.

NEO wouldn't quit and pulled within 34-28 on a Steigerwald 18-yard TD pass to Kobe Bryer with 5:51 to go. The extra point failed after a bad snap.

The Apache defense held the Golden Norsemen at midfield with 1:37 to go, but NEO had timeouts and TJC punted to the NEO 11.

Johnson, a sophomore from Dallas, came up with the clutch interception.

Smith led all ball carriers with 143 yards on 13 carries for Tyler while Wilson contributed 85 yards on 20 carries.

Thompson led the NEO ground game with 111 yards on 17 carries while Darran Williams contributed 108 yards on 10 attempts.

The Golden Norse rushed for 303 yards on 50 carries compared to 321 yards on 48 carries by the Apaches.

Before leaving the game, Grundy connected on 14 of 28 passes for 173 yards. Steigerwald hit 14 of 21 passes for 121 yards.

Wooten connected on 8 of 17 passes for 138 yards with no interceptions and two TDs.

TJC returns home on Saturday to face Cisco College (7 p.m. start at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium), while NEO travels to Corsicana to meet Navarro in a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Link to original article at ETFinalScore.com:
http://www.etfinalscore.com/ET-TJC/302666/tjc-tops-neo