Buried by a 35-point onslaught during a little over 15-minute span, the Northeastern A&M Golden Norsemen suffered a 63-49 loss Thursday night to No. 8 ranked Tyler Junior College before a partisan crowd at Robertson Field.
While remaining winless through two Southwest Junior College Football Conference games, the Golden Norse are 2-3 on the season. The Norsemen conclude a four-game homestand on Oct. 5 by hosting Trinity Valley Community College in a 3 p.m. homecoming contest.
Coach Danny Palmer's Tyler Apaches are 2-0 in the SWJCFC and 4-0 overall.
Things didn't appear to be as dismal for the Norsemen on the first possession of the game as quarterback Tony Kiefer found wide out Dawson Myers open for a 78-yard touchdown pass on the opening play. Dylan Lipps added the point-after for a 7-0 lead with just 0:19 seconds off the clock.
Tyler responded with a 6-yard TD run by veteran tailback Leroy Dobbins to create a 7-7 tie with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
After the Apaches grabbed a 14-7 lead with just 0:35 seconds left in the first 15 minutes, NEO received touchdown runs of 1-yard by Kiefer and 8-yards by Elliott Hawkins to build a 21-14 lead midway through the second quarter.
Kiefer's 19-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard TD pass from Kiefer to Alverey Braxton snapped a 21-21 tie as NEO constructed a 35-21 cushion with 0:40 seconds until halftime.
The Apaches mounted their rally as quarterback Randy Price hit Johnathon Epps with a 35-yard TD pass as time expired for the half.
During the third quarter the Apaches received two touchdown runs of 1-yard by Terrance Taylor and one 1-yarder by Dobbins along with a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown by Savion Brown to pull away to a 56-35 margin entering the final quarter.
Dobbins, who rushed for 185 yards on 32 carries, scored his third touchdown of the game with 13:12 remaining on the clock.
Tyler finished with 558 total yards while included 361 yards on the ground.
NEO rushed for 276 yards while completing 24 of 34 passes for 279 yards through the air.
Tyler Junior College;7;21;28;7 63
Northeastern A&M;7;28;0;14 49
Scoring summary
First quarter
NEO Myers 78 pass from Kiefer (Lipps kick), 14:41
TJC Dobbins 6 run (Kaba kick), 7:03
TJC Leota 5 pass from Price (Kaba kick), 0:35
Second quarter
NEO Kiefer 1 run (Lipps kick), 11:48
NEO Hawkins 8 run (Lipps kick), 8:08
TJC Carraway 20 run (Kaba kick), 6:20
NEO Kiefer 19 run (Lipps kick), 3:51
NEO Braxton 24 pass from KIefer (Lipps kick), 0:40
TJC Epps 35 pass from Price (Kaba kick), 0:13
Third quarter
TJC Taylor 1 run (Kaba kick), 11:52
TJC Dobbins 1 run (Kaba kick), 4:58
TJC Brown 47 interception return (Kaba kick), 3:55
TJC Taylor 1 run (Kaba kick), 2:11
Fourth quarter
NEO Holmes 8 run (Lipps kick), 14:55
TJC Dobbins 3 run (Kaba kick), 13:12
NEO Hawkins 46 pass from Kiefer (Lipps kick), 5:19
Team statistics
TJC;NEO
First downs;24;33
Rushes-yards;65-361;51-276
Passing yards;197;279
Return yards;47;1
Pass-com-att-int;11-23-1;24-34-1
Punts-avg;1-42;2-30.5
Fumbles-lost;2-1;2-1
Penalties-yards;6-60;6-50
Individual statistics
RUSHING Tyler, Dobbins 32-185;Taylor 19-125;Carraway 4-29;Price 7-21;Davis 2-15;Madrigal 1-(-14);NEO, Hawkins 11-110;Kiefer 20-102;Wilson 12-39;Myers 2-15;Holmes 1-8;Manley 3-6;Jennings 1-(-2).
PASSING Tyler, Price 11-23-1-151;NEO, Kiefer 20-26-1-236;Manley 4-8-0-43.
RECEIVING Tyler, Epps 5-77;Carraway 3-98;Reynolds 3-22;NEO, Myers 6-55;Braxton 4-54;Vester 3-30;Hawkins 2-77;Holmes 2-31;Warrington 2-12;Lawrence 2-8;White 1-9, Shepard 1-6;Collier 1-(-3).
