Oldest of the Oklahoma-Texas junior college rivalries, the Northeastern A&M Golden Norsemen hook up against the No. 8 ranked Tyler Junior College Apaches in a special Thursday night Southwest Junior College Football Conference game at Robertson Field.


Tyler owns a 24-21-1 record since the inception in 1954.
"This is one of those games where brute strength comes into play," Golden Norse head coach Sherard Poteete said. "Tyler not only has a big, physical front on both sides of the football, but they've got two experienced quarterbacks. One's fast and the other one's faster"
After gaining a 42-10 victory last Saturday over Houston's Southeast Prep Academy in a non-conference game, the Golden Norsemen are 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in the conference.
Seventh-year head coach Danny Palmer's Apaches come to Miami with a 1-0 SWJCFC record and a perfect 4-0 season mark. Last weekend the Apaches escaped with a 31-28 victory over Blinn, Texas, at Tyler's Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.
When the two teams battled last year they combined for 196 total points in six quarters of football. When the two teams met at Mother Trinity Francis Rose Stadium during the regular season, it took two overtime periods before the Apaches pulled off a monumental 65-59 victory in this storied series.
The two longtime adversaries met in the semifinals of the SWJCFC playoffs with the Golden Norse escaping with a 37-35 win before a large crowd at Robertson Field. The end result for coach Danny Palmer's Apaches was a 3-3 conference record and a 5-5 overall mark.
"One of the Tyler quarterbacks is a Texas A&M transfer (Matt) Davis and the other one (Randy Price) started at Tyler two years ago and redshirted last year," Poteete said. "So, they've got a third-year player and one that was a 5-Star Rivals recruit out of high school who attended Texas A&M last year.
"Not only are those two guys very good, but they've also got the (Lamar) Carraway kid starting at wide receiver that came to Tyler as a quarterback," Poteete said. "That makes them a very explosive offense that can run the wild cat package some of the time."
Averaging 487 yards per game on offense, the Apaches running game is led by sophomore tailback Leroy Dobbins (5-8, 188 from Montgomery, Texas). Dobbins has gained 351 yards on 38 carries with two touchdowns.
Freshman backup Terrance Taylor (5-10, 209 from Diboll, Texas) has added 262 yards on 65 carries with four TDs.
Price (6-3, 188 from Waco, Texas) has rushed for 202 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns. He has completed 26 of 48 passes for 505 yards and eight TDs with three interceptions.
Davis, a freshman in eligibility, (6-1, 206 from Klein, Texas) has gained 169 yards on 24 carries with two TDs. He has completed 20 of 32 passes for 276 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
Carraway (5-8, 175 from Lake Providence, La.) leads the Apaches receiving corps with 18 catches for 244 yards and three TDs.
"This will be a real test for our defense because they have so many weapons," Poteete said. "I think we're up for the challenge."
Through the first four games the Golden Norse defense have limited the opposition to an average of 287.3 total yards per game. The defensive unit is averaging seven yards and five quarterback sacks per game.
"We've got to keep their quarterbacks bottled up and can't let them just have free roam in the backfield," Poteete said. "We've got to keep them guessing and not let them get in a rhythm."
Sophomore middle linebacker linebacker Zach Maynard leads the Golden Norse defensive unit with 25 unassisted tackles and 11 assists. He has made two quarterback sacks for minus-27 yards.
Veteran defensive end Donavon McLeod has made 20 solo tackles, 11 assists and three quarterback sacks for minus-18 yards.
"Our big emphasis on offense has to be on ball possession," Poteete said. "Not only do we want to take care of the ball and cut down on mistakes, but just as importantly we want to keep their offense off the field by having long, sustained drives that result in points on the board.
"We want to come out and establish the running game early and Tyler's going to use their speed on defense to try and shut us down," Poteete said. "We're getting solid production out of our running backs, so we just need to keep grinding it out."
The Golden Norse are averaging 272 yards per game on the ground led by veteran tailbacks Sheldon Wilson and Elliot Hawkins. Wilson has amassed 326 yards on 44 carries and five touchdowns while Hawkins has contributed 305 yards on 37 carries and three TDs.
A special feature to attract NEO students to the game will be several giveaways.
All NEO students with a valid ID card are invited to participate in a special cash and gift card giveaway during the game, according to NEO athletic director Dale Patterson.
"Students with valid ID's will be entered into eight drawings held during the course of the game," Patterson said. "We'll hold two drawings each of ID numbers in the middle of the first, second and third quarters.
"During the middle of the fourth quarter two grand prize drawings worth more than $200 each will be conducted," Patterson said. "Students must be present for each drawing to be eligible to win."