Playing on the road for the fourth time in five games, NMMI comeback bid fell just a few plays short against Tyler Junior College, 21-10.
The Bronco offense overcame an extremely slow start, going three-and-out on six of their possessions in the first half and posting just two first downs and 38 total yards prior to their final drive in the second quarter.
Trailing 14-0 and with the Apaches threateneing to score again, sophomore defensive back Stilton KcKelvey made his first of three big plays on the night, intercepting a Tyler pass to give NMMI the ball back on their own 19 yard line with 1:42 left in the half.
That's when things finally started clicking for quarterback Elliott Pasket-Bell and the rest of the Bronco offense. The sophomore playcaller helped mount a drive down to the Tyler 15, with a pair of passes to Kendall Jones for 16 and 32 yards, along with a 16-yard scramble himself. However, a sack and forced fumble ended the drive right before the last ticks of the second quarter.
In Tyler's opening drive of the second half, it looked like they were about to increased their lead, with a runningback breaking through into the secondary. But McKelvey caught him from behind, punched out the ball right before the goal-line, and Daylan Chichester grabbed the ball in the end zone for the touchback.
NMMI's first point of the ball game came on their second possession in the third quarter and a 12-play, 60-yard drive, including a 40-yard toss from Paskett-Bell to sophomore wide-receiver Maurice Collier. When the drive stalled at the Apache 15, Jack Nelson kicked a 32-yard field goal with 6:56 left in the third, to nake it 14-3.
The Broncos' next scoring drive came on their first pssession of the fourth quarter. Javion McKay hauled in three passes for 40 total yards, Karl Peterson caught another for 22, and Alvin Johnson III had two rushes for 18 yards on the nine-play, 79-yard drive. Faced with a fourth-and-goal from the Tyler 1, NMMI elected to go for it and the gamble came up big: Paskett-Bell stabbing his arm with tthe ball across the goalline plane right before being tackled. And with 11:56 still left ito play n the fourth quarterr, it was now a ballgame.
The Apaches came right back and ate up seven minutes of the clock with an impressive drive of their own, including 8-straight rushing plays, down to the NMMI 32. But Leon Muller came up with a big six-yard sack, followed by McKelvey's second pick on the night, which he returned 32 yards down to the Tyler 45.
With 4:45 remaining in the game, Paskett-Bell and his crew worked the ball down to the Tyler 31. Two incomplete passes made it third-and-ten and Paskett-Bell was tackled for a huge 12-yard loss on an unptotected bootleg option. NMMI elected to punt and Tyler took possession after it went into the end for a touchback at their own 20 with 3:29 left in the game.
With the NMMI defense stacked in the box to try and stop the Tyler running game and get the ball back quckly, an Apache running back broke through and scampered 69 yards for the touchdown and the final points of the game.
"I thought we turned it around on offense after a slow start and started moving the ball a little bit more effectively in the second half," said NMMI head coach Oliver Soukup. "We just need to capitalize on a couple of those drives. If we do, it's a whole new ballgame."
As for the Bronco defense, Soukup seemed mostly pleased, except for the dispairity in rushing yards. "If we're giving up 294 yards on the run, that's obviously just way too much. We only rushed for 65. That's a big tell from the stats. But we'll go back to working and get ready for Cisco next week. Cisco's been playing well, beat Kilgore last week, and I'm sure they'll give us their best punch. We'll do what we do and coach 'em up," finished coach Soukup.
With the loss NMMI moves to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the SWJCFC, while Tyler remains undefeated in conference play and 3-2 overall.
Next week, NMMI is yet again on the road, set to take on Cisco College on Saturday, Oct. 12 in a high-noon Central showdown. The Wranglers are 3-1 on the season with a perfect 3-0 conference record after a 34-30 home win against Trinty Valley CC, a 35-30 road win against Kilgore College, and a 42-35 road win Saturday against Northeastern OKlahoma A&M.