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CORSICANA — Navarro scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to stave off a TJC rally and register a 49-24 decision over the Apaches on Saturday in a Southwest Junior College Football Conference game at Community National Bank & Trust Stadium.

No. 7 Tyler Junior College saw its six-game winning streak snapped as the Tribe concluded the regular season with a 6-3 overall record and 6-1 in the SWJCFC play. Last week, the Apaches clinched the conference regular season title and will be the No. 1 seed when the playoffs begin in two weeks. TJC will host a semifinal game on Nov. 16 at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler.

Tyler is open next week while the remainder of the conference plays to determine the second through fourth seeds. TJC will play the No. 4 seed, most likely Cisco or Blinn.

Navarro, ranked No. 9, improves to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in conference. The Bulldogs are tied for second in conference with Kilgore College.

A milestone in the game was achieved by TJC’s All-America placekicker Christian Baxter as he reached his 100th career point as an Apache. Baxter kicked an extra-point along with three field goals of 42, 38 and 27 yards.

“We started too slow,” TJC Coach Tanner Jacobson said. “We have to give credit to Navarro. They did a fantastic job with their game plan and they made a lot of plays. In the game there were some contested catches and you have to give credit to the receivers who made the plays. I thought their quarterback (Mason Shorb) played with some poise.”

After trailing 35-10 at halftime, the Apaches pulled within 35-24 in the third quarter. The Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter with two TDs.

“We were building momentum in the third quarter,” Jacobson noted. “I was proud of the way we responded coming out after halftime. We really challenged them to make something happen. In the grand scheme of things in terms of conference playoffs this really didn’t have a determining factor but I was really, really proud of how they responded.”

With the game tied at 7-7, Apache starting quarterback Tre Guerra left the game in the first quarter after being sacked. Eddy McGuire, TJC head athletic trainer, said Guerra had a strained ACL.

Jacobson said Guerra will be evaluated. Before being injured, the sophomore from Keller hit on 3 of 4 passing attempts for 48 yards.

Nathan Greek, who has started four games this season, connected on 19 of 28 for 178 yards.

With the score knotted, Navarro scored four touchdowns to the Apaches’ field goal to take a 35-10 halftime lead.

Shorb gave Navarro a 7-0 lead when he scored on a 5-yard run. Haden Tesser added the extra point at 10:37 of the first quarter.

TJC then tied the game at 7-7 on Bryce Burgess’ 1-yard dash and Baxter’s PAT at 7:42 of the first period.

Navarro scored three-straight TDs — 17-yard pass from Shorb to Tim Burns, 12-yard pass from Shorb to Chris Lewis and 10-yard pass from Shorb to Malachai Johnson.

TJC’s Brian Ramirez punted to the NC eight-yard line and on the next play, the Apaches’ Jacob Robinson picked off a pass to set up Baxter’s 42-yard FG at the three-minute mark.

Then with 1:33 before halftime, the Bulldogs scored again on a 30-yard pass from Shorb to Burns.

To begin the third quarter, the Apaches drove 73 yards on a 13-play drive that was topped off by a Burgess 1-yard dash. Then Greek ran in for the two-point conversion to bring TJC within 35-18 at 11:17. A big play on the march was a 33-yard reception by Lonnie Johnson from Greek.

The Tyler defense, thanks in part to a sack from Jayden Lavion and a key tackle from Ziggy Loa, forced the Bulldogs to punt.

TJC used 11 plays to move to the Navarro 21. There Baxter booted a 38-yard field goal to get the Apaches within 35-21.

After the ensuing kickoff, TJC lineback Darion White continued his standout season, intercepting the football at the 25 and returning it to the 5.

However, the Apaches could not find the end zone and Baxter’s 27-yard field goal brough TJC within 35-24 at 1:42 of the third.

The Tribe could not halt the Bulldogs on the next drive as Navarro eventually scored on a 7-yard TD reception by Aaron Woods from Ryan Shackleton. Tessier’s PAT put NC up 42-24 with 8:44 showing.

TJC turned the ball over on downs at the Navarro 46.The Bulldogs then drove down and Deshaun Brundage scored on a 2-yard run and Hessier’s PAT put the final score at 49-24 with 1:57 showing.

SWJCFC PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

• Tyler has clinched No. 1 seed and will host a semifinal on Nov. 16.

• If Kilgore wins over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, the Rangers clinch the No. 2 seed and host semifinal on Nov. 16 against Navarro.

• If Kilgore losse at NEO and Navarro wins, the Rangers are the No. 3 seed and will play at Navarro on Nov. 16.

• Navarro is the No. 3 seed with a Kilgore win over NEO. With a Kilgore loss and a Navarro win over New Mexico Military then Navarro is the No. 2 seed and will host Kilgore on Nov. 16.

• If Cisco wins over Blinn and the Wranglers are the No. 4 seed and will travel to Tyler on Nov. 16.

• If Blinn beats Cisco and Navarro beats NMMI, then there would be a three-way tie with Blinn, Cisco and Trinity Valley. It would go to the point differential in those games involving Blinn, Cisco and Trinity Valley.

• If Blinn beats Cisco and NMMI beats Navarro, then there would be a four-way tie with Blinn, Cisco, NMMI and TVCC. It would go to the point differential in those games involving Blinn, Cisco and Trinity Valley.

TJC HOOPS

The TJC basketball teams will play a doubleheader against Southwestern Christian College on Monday at Wagstaff Gymnasium.

For the Apache Ladies, the contest is their opener. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.

The Apaches will play at 7 p.m.

The men opened its season on Friday, a 110-31 victory over Strength ‘N Motion.

Five Apaches scored in double figures — Joey Brown (18), Trey Callaway (17), Chris Uwayo Jr. (16), Caden Bell (14) and Josiah Hill (13).

The Apache Ladies will host the Herb Richardson Classic on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday the schedule includes: Angelina vs. Collin, 3 p.m.; Kilgore vs. Temple, 5 p.m.; and Tyler vs. South Plains, 7 p.m.

There will be six games on Saturday (3 girls high school games and 3 juco games). The schedule includes: Martin’s Mill vs. Broaddus, 10:30 a.m.; Angelina vs. South Plains, noon; Collin vs. Kilgore, 2 p.m.; Tyler vs. Temple, 4 p.m.; Tyler Legacy vs. Shreveport (Louisiana) Airline, 6 p.m.; and Tenaha vs. Brook Hill, 7:30 p.m.