Esports 2/25/2026 12:07:00 PM

Blinn Rocket League, Super Smash Bros., and Call of Duty have up-and-down night of play

Blinn's Overwatch and Valorant teams will be in action Wednesday

Esports 2/25/2026 12:07:00 PM

Blinn Rocket League, Super Smash Bros., and Call of Duty have up-and-down night of play

Blinn's Overwatch and Valorant teams will be in action Wednesday

The Blinn College esports Rocket League, Super Smash Bros., and Call of Duty teams were in action Tuesday with mixed results.

The Buccaneers' Rocket League team competed in three matches, beginning with a dominant 3-0 sweep of SUNY Onondaga Community College in a best-of-five NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) matchup. Blinn followed with a 3-0 loss to Daytona State College in NJCAAe play before closing the night with a 3-0 defeat to Lubbock Christian University in National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Varsity Premier competition.

Competing for Blinn were Edward Tejada, Aaron Konen, and Vallentino Rossi.

Blinn is now 3-1 in the NJCAAe East Conference and 1-3 in the NACE West-Central Conference.

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, with the team scoring the most goals during a five-minute match earning the victory.

Blinn opened the day with a commanding performance against SUNY Onondaga Community College, controlling the series from start to finish with game victories of 3-0, 5-0, and 4-0.

"We came into the matchup as the favorites and played like it," Blinn head coach and Rocket League coach Kyle Murto said. "We stayed composed, rotated well, and capitalized on our scoring opportunities to secure a clean sweep."

The Buccaneers then faced Daytona State College in what Murto described as "the true test of the day." Blinn fell with game scores of 7-2, 4-0, and 4-1.

"The first game was competitive early, tied 2-2 until around the third minute when momentum shifted heavily in their favor," Murto said. "Daytona State's pace was difficult for us to handle. As the pressure mounted, we began to panic, which led to breakdowns in rotation and several costly double commits."

Murto noted improvement late in the series.

"We looked more organized in the final game and showed better cohesion, but we still struggled to consistently match their speed and execution," he said. "This result was not entirely unexpected, as Daytona State is one of the top Rocket League programs in NJCAAe and nationally. It's clear we still have work to do before hopefully seeing them again in the postseason."

Blinn wrapped up the evening in NACE Varsity Premier play against Lubbock Christian University, another nationally competitive program, and fell with scores of 5-1, 4-2, and 2-1.

"We approached the series as an opportunity to challenge ourselves and measure how quickly we can play at the highest level," Murto said. "While the results were not in our favor, the experience was valuable in exposing areas where our speed, decision-making, and finishing need to improve against top-tier competition."

Overall, Murto viewed the day as a learning opportunity.

"It was a mixed night," he said. "We secured a strong win to start but were reminded of the level required to compete with the best teams in both NJCAAe and NACE. There are positives to build on, but continued improvement in composure, rotations, and pace will be key moving forward."

Next up for Blinn Rocket League is a pair of NJCAAe matches against Bevill State Community College at 5 p.m. and Guilford Technical Community College at 6 p.m., followed by a NACE showdown against Lindenwood University at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3.

Blinn's night continued with nine 1-on-1, best-of-five Super Smash Bros. Ultimate matches, highlighted by several strong individual performances.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a crossover fighting game in which players aim to knock opponents off the stage by increasing their damage percentage, making them more vulnerable to launch. In singles play, competitors battle with a set number of lives, or "stocks," and the match is won by reducing the opponent's stocks to zero. Series are commonly played in best-of-three or best-of-five formats.

Gage Cole opened with a 3-0 victory over teammate James Rinehart in an all-Blinn matchup. After navigating early projectile pressure, Cole adjusted his spacing and timing and took control of the set, closing out games two and three with three stocks remaining in each.

Cole later fell 3-1 to Dallas College Mountain View in a competitive series that was tighter than the score indicated. He battled back from early multi-stock deficits in several games and delivered a clutch reverse three-stock win in game two at over 160 percent. Game four nearly mirrored that comeback before a bold up-tilt rest attempt narrowly missed, showcasing his confidence in high-risk reads despite the loss.

Cole is now 4-1 in the NJCAAe Central Group 1.

Cade Noel earned a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Arizona College, dictating the tempo from the outset. He played patiently, avoided overcommitting in high-risk situations, and consistently managed KO punch threats to force safer exchanges.

Noel followed with a 3-1 win over Laramie County Community College. After dropping the opening game and adjusting his character selection, he slowed the pace and won three straight to close the set.

Noel moved to 4-1 in Central Group 2.

Rinehart dropped a 3-0 decision to Dallas College Mountain View. He kept the opener competitive before an early self-destruct shifted momentum, and the remaining games were decided by quick early stocks and sustained side-special pressure that proved difficult to overcome.

Rinehart also dropped a tightly contested 3-1 decision to Wichita State University Tech. All four games came down to final-stock situations, underscoring how narrow the margin was throughout the set. He battled evenly in each contest but struggled to stop the final approach in key moments. The series was highly competitive and could have swung the other direction with one or two different interactions late in games.

Rinehart fell to 3-3 in Central Group 1.

Braeyelyn Mitchell added two strong performances on the night, beginning with a 3-0 sweep of Donnelly College. Mitchell competed with confidence and showcased strong matchup familiarity, quickly identifying tendencies and converting cleanly to maintain control from start to finish.

Mitchell followed with a 3-1 win over Northcentral Technical College. After making early adjustments to find his rhythm, he seized momentum and closed out three consecutive games to secure the victory.

Mitchell improved to 5-0 in Central Group 3.

Cole, Noel, Rinehart, and Mitchell will return to action with seven total NJCAAe matches Tuesday, March 3.

To end the night of action, Blinn's Call of Duty squad fell 3-0 to New Mexico State University in a best-of-five Collegiate Call of Duty League (CCL) matchup. With the result, the Buccaneers moved to 3-4 in the CCL West Sun Belt Conference.

Competing for Blinn were Jaden Navarro, Aariz Ali, Semaj Howard, and Daniel Gonzalez.

Tuesday's matchup pitted the four Bucs against the Aggies, with the teams attempting to collect three wins across three modes of play in the first-person-shooter game:

Hardpoint: Teams secure rotating capture points, earning points for control. A team wins by reaching 250 points first.
Search and Destroy: Teams alternate attacking and defending, with the goal to plant or defuse an objective. The first team to win 6 rounds claims victory.
Overload: Teams placed on separate areas on a map compete to capture an Overload Device, and must transport it to one of two detonation zones on the opposing team's area. The match ends when either team scores eight points.

Blinn opened on Hardpoint (Blackheart map) and kept pace early, highlighted by a strong hold on the second hill. However, New Mexico State chained together several mid-map rotations to build a 180-100 advantage. The Buccaneers rallied behind key plays from Gonzalez to trim the deficit but ultimately dropped the map 250-190.

On Search and Destroy (Scar), Blinn jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind strong opening picks from Ali and Howard. New Mexico State responded with adjustments on the A site to take a 5-3 advantage. Facing elimination, Ali delivered a clutch 1-versus-2 to pull Blinn within 5-4 before the Aggies secured the final round to take the map 6-4.

In the deciding Overload round (Scar), Blinn surged ahead 3-0 with Ali and Navarro leading the charge. New Mexico State answered late in the first half to make it 3-1, then used a series of captures in the second half to grab a 4-3 lead. The Buccaneers forced overtime with a late score, but the Aggies secured a 5-4 win to complete the sweep.

"We started off hot," Lucich said. "This is a team we would have probably been blown out by earlier in the season. I am so proud of how much better we have gotten, especially Daniel and Semaj. If we continue at this pace, we will be in a great spot by the end of the season."

Blinn Call of Duty returns to play with an NJCAAe matchup against Cowley College at 7 p.m. on March 3.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.

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