TOP DOGS

Published 4:28 pm Friday, November 22, 2024

In a game befitting top 10 teams, No. 6 Navarro and No. 7 Tyler left it all on Earl Campbell Field on Saturday.

Navarro held off the Apaches, 31-28, to capture the Southwest Junior College Football Conference championship at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler.

Tyler (7-4) led 14-13 at halftime, but the Bulldogs eventually took a 23-14 lead early in the fourth period and the Apaches could never get back on top.

“They just made more plays than us,” TJC Coach Tanner Jacobson said. “We made too many penalties. We had a bad snap on the field goal that ended up with no points. We had a missed field where we ended up with no points. We got stopped on fourth down twice and we didn’t get points. In another version of that game if we played them again, potentially you are looking at a 20-point difference. … You have to give credit to Navarro and how they played and battled. They are a really good football team. We just didn’t make enough plays today.”

With the victory, Navarro (8-2) wins the SWJCFC Region XIV title and earns a berth in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl, which is scheduled for Dec. 7 at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium on the campus of East Texas A&M University in Commerce.

Navarro Coach Ryan Taylor said his Bulldogs will play Coffeyville (Kansas) in the bowl game.

Jacobson said it is possible the Apaches could go to a bowl.

Taylor, who was an All-America center at TJC in his playing days, led the Bulldogs to their 13th SWJCFC title and first since 2019. It is his second title after leading Cisco to the crown in the spring of 2021.

“I knew it was going to be a tight one and it would come down to the end,” Taylor said. “Tyler has a great team. I’m really proud of our guys, their resilience, how they have battled through the ups and downs of the season.”

The two teams combined for 930 yards (507 by Tyler; 423 by Navarro), but there were also some big-time defensive plays as both teams each picked off two passes — Tyler’s William Cornelson and Darion White, and Navarro’s Cameron Pinney and Keiondre Lewis.

Wide receiver Tim Burns led Navarro with 10 catches for 165 yards, hauling in a 54-yard TD pass from Ryan Shackleton. Starting QB Mason Shorb hit on 19 of 32 passing attempts for 207 yards with a TD pass (3 yards to Shawn Brown) and two interceptions. Shackleton was 3 of 6 for 61 yards and TD pass to Burns.

TJC quarterback Tre Guerra threw for a season-high 361 yards with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Lonnie Johnson. He also threw his first two interceptions of the season, the second was a tipped pass.

Terrance Naulings had six catches for 177 yards, including an amazing reception when he grabbed a pass that bounced off the shin guard of a Bulldog. He cradled the ball in his arms as he fell to the ground for a 48-yard play.

Along with his TD reception, Johnson scored on a 71-yard run when he took the snap on a fake punt, avoided a Bulldog, kept his balance as he tight-roped the sideline that got TJC back in the game as the Apaches pulled within 23-21 with 12:48 of the fourth quarter. The big tight end from Fort Worth had four catches for 62 yards.

Lavarion Logan scored on two TD runs for Tyler — 6 and 2 yards.

Navarro’s Clay Thevenin added a 5-yard TD run to go along with his 123 yards on 23 carries.

NC’s Haden hit three field goals — 37 and 38 in the first half and 38 in the third quarter which gave the Bulldogs a 16-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

In the first half, a bad snap prevented Christian Baxter from attempting a 40-yarder. Later, his 54-yard attempt came up just short. Also, the Apaches were stopped inches from the goal line on fourth-and-1.

The fourth quarterback was back-and-forth as Thevenin’s 5-yard run and Tessier PAT put Navarro up 23-14 with 13:51 on the clock.

Then Johnson came through with the long TD run on the fake punt. Baxter’s PAT brought TJC within 23-21 at 12:48.

But Navarro marched back down the field as Shorb hit Brown for the 3-yard TD. There was a bad snap on the extra-point attempt, but holder Shackleton picked the ball and rolled right, hitting Jeremiah Venson in the back of the end zone for two points and a 31-21 lead at 9:33.

TJC pulled within 31-28 when Logan scored from the 2. Baxter made the PAT at 3:05.

Navarro whittled the clock down and TJC got the ball back with eight seconds remaining at the Apaches’ 38. Guerra hit Johnson for 15 yards, but the clock ran out before another play could be attempted.