Esports 10/7/2026 11:10:00 AM

Blinn earns Call of Duty win, splits Rocket League matches

Buccaneers rally for Rocket League sweep after opening-night setback; Call of Duty wins five-round thriller against Alvin

Esports 10/7/2026 11:10:00 AM

Blinn earns Call of Duty win, splits Rocket League matches

Buccaneers rally for Rocket League sweep after opening-night setback; Call of Duty wins five-round thriller against Alvin

The Blinn College esports team picked up a Call of Duty victory and split a pair of Rocket League matches Tuesday in NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) competition.

Blinn's Call of Duty team opened its NJCAAe season with a 3-2 victory over Alvin College, while the Buccaneers' Rocket League team fell 3-0 to Columbia Basin College before bouncing back with a 3-0 sweep of Cowley College.

All three matches were contested in a best-of-five format.

Rocket League
Blinn's Rocket League squad dropped its opening match to Columbia Basin before responding with a dominant sweep of Cowley College.

Moisés Arb, Cooper Bullinger, Andrew Corley and Jared Kissee competed for the Bucs.

Rocket League combines elements of soccer with fast-paced car mechanics. Teams of three players use rocket-powered vehicles to hit a ball into the opponent's goal. The team with the most goals after each five-minute round wins.

Blinn was forced to play at a 3-on-2 disadvantage against Columbia Basin. The Bucs fell 7-1, 2-0 and 6-1.

"While the result counts in the standings, there is not much to take away from a competitive standpoint given the circumstances," Blinn esports head coach and Rocket League manager Kyle Murto said. "We are hopeful to get another opportunity to face Columbia Basin later in the season or playoffs with both teams at full strength."

The Bucs responded emphatically against Cowley, winning 7-1, 3-2 and 2-0 to improve to 2-1 in NJCAAe play.

Blinn controlled possession throughout the opening round and kept Cowley pinned in its own half for extended stretches before cruising to a 7-1 victory. Cowley shifted to a more defensive approach in round two, but the Bucs continued to generate scoring opportunities and held on for a 3-2 win.

Cowley again sat deep defensively in the third round, but Blinn remained disciplined and controlled the pace to secure the 2-0 victory and complete the sweep.

"I am proud of how the team responded," Murto said. "Rather than letting the first result affect them, they regrouped, played some of their best Rocket League of the season, and earned a convincing win."

Blinn will continue its NJCAAe regular season with a match against Dallas College Brookhaven at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Call of Duty
Blinn Call of Duty opened its NJCAAe season with a 3-2 victory over Alvin College.

Jaden Navarro, Joshua Simme, Daniel Gonzalez and Marcus Simon represented the Bucs.

Blinn is now 1-0 in NJCAAe Call of Duty play

Call of Duty teams compete across three game modes. In Hardpoint, teams secure rotating capture points and earn points for controlling them, with the first team to reach 250 points winning the round. In Search and Destroy, teams alternate between attacking and defending, with the first team to win six rounds claiming victory. In Overload, teams compete to capture an Overload Device and transport it to one of two detonation zones on the opposing team's side of the map, with the first team to reach eight points winning.

Blinn rallied from a slow start in round one on Colossus Hardpoint, overcoming an early 100-70 deficit to win 250-189. Simon led the Bucs with 42 eliminations, while Navarro added 35.
Alvin answered with a 6-3 victory in round two on Raid Search and Destroy after Blinn jumped out to a 3-1 lead.

The Bucs responded in round three on Scar Overload, building a 4-1 halftime advantage before finishing with a 6-2 victory. Simon again led Blinn with a 31-15 performance.
Alvin forced a decisive fifth round by winning round four on Scar Hardpoint, 250-169, despite Simon posting a team-best 44-25 scoreline.

The deciding round on Den Search and Destroy went down to the wire. Navarro helped Blinn take an early 4-1 lead, but Alvin rallied to tie the round at 5-5 and force a decisive round 11.

After both teams traded opening eliminations, Gonzalez and Simme found themselves in a 2-on-2 situation. The teams traded eliminations again before Gonzalez won the deciding 1-on-1 to give the Bucs the series victory.

"I'm happy we were able to overcome a long and close series this early in the season," Blinn esports assistant coach and Call of Duty manager Ryan Lucich said. "We have a lot of footage to look at and improve on for our next matches."

The Bucs will have a bye next week before facing Collin College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

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