RCTC FB gearing up for NJCAA D-III Championship
The Yellowjackets look to win their first national championship since 2015.
(ABC 6 News) — In just the second year of Terrence Isaac’s tenure at RCTC, Yellowjackets Football will play for a national title.
RCTC faces the College of DuPage for the NJCAA D-III National Championship on Saturday, December 2 in the third tilt between both schools since 2022.
The first two matches against DuPage include a 23-7 defeat at the Chaparrals last season and a 24-21 loss on September 2 this year. It’s an opportunity to get some long-awaited payback, but the team also wants to approach the game no differently than any other.
“I honestly think that it starts out here, we come out here and compete every day, we set the tone,” sophomore cornerback Ramon Arrington stated. “This is our game so we try to translate practice to the game and basically, we’re pumped, we’re pretty excited.”
“This game is a very big game, it’s a national stage, you know they’re doing TV, ESPN,” sophomore running back Raphael Manning added. “But as a team, we’re just going to treat it as a regular game. Go out there try our best, do what we do.”
A big part of RCTC’s success in the Isaac era has been the result of defensive coordinator Antonio McKinney. Under McKinney, the Yellowjackets defense has allowed 16.7 points per game, second only to DuPage’s 15.7 per contest.
“Our defense, they’ve always been tremendous, Coach McKinney does a good job putting them in great situations, he coaches the guys well,” Coach Isaac said of McKinney. “The whole defensive staff, they do a great job of getting these guys ready week in, week out.
“Playing against the best, (the Chaparrals) bring out the best in us, so both times we played those guys it’s been tremendous games,” Coach Isaac continued. “We just come out on the short side of the stick, but, I think if we take care of the ball and we limit those mistakes, I think we’ll be okay.”
The NJCAA D-III National Championship will be played at Glen Ellyn, Illinois with kickoff on Saturday set for 12 PM. The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.