KINGSVILLE — The 2003 Texas A&M-Kingsville football team has been announced as the first inductee into the Javelina Hall of Fame Class of 2026, Javelina Athletics announced Wednesday.

The team will join seven other inductees in the Hall of Fame Class of 2026, with each inductee being announced on subsequent Wednesdays. The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place Friday Oct. 2 in the Student Union Building Ballroom.

One of the most dominant teams in the modern era of Javelina football, the 2003 squad compiled an 11-2 record and captured the Lone Star Conference championship before eventually falling in the NCAA Division II semifinals. The Javelinas rattled off 11 straight wins after dropping their season opener to Division I opponent Portland State and finished a perfect 8-0 in conference play.

In the NCAA Division II playoffs, Texas A&M-Kingsville rolled past No. 21 Tarleton State and No. 20 Central Oklahoma by a combined score of 83-16 to reach the semifinals. Their magical season came to an end there, however, as they suffered their first defeat in three months to Grand Valley State and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation.

The 2003 Javelina football team also featured standout performances from several players, led by running back Larry Williams. Williams put together an outstanding 2003 campaign, finishing with the fourth-most rushing yards in a single season in program history (1,570), the most rushing attempts in a single season (312) and the eighth-most rushing touchdowns in a single season (15).

Paving the way for Williams was offensive lineman Kevin Palmer, who was named the 2003 Rimington Award winner, presented annually to the most outstanding offensive lineman in Division II. Palmer was also named an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, D2Football.com and Daktronics.

Joining Palmer as a first-team All-American was Eddie Moten, who earned first-team honors from D2Football.com. Williams also received All-America recognition, earning second-team honors from D2Football.com and third-team honors from Football Gazette.

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