BY MIKE MONTFORT

Sophomore quarterback Dodge Delozier threw four touchdown passes, freshman Jakobi Holland ran for two more, but it took defensive back Tyrecus Davis' 42-yard interception return to make the difference in Navarro's season-opening 53-50 win Saturday over the Tyler Apaches.

Delozier completed 38-of-53 passes for 340 yards as coach Scott Parr's eighth-ranked Bulldogs made a successful spring football debut in their first official game in 504 days, or, since Navarro's SWJCFC Championship win over NMMI on November 9, 2019.  Delozier fired touchdown passes of 47 yards to Jeremiah Aaron, 14 to Tru Edwards, 35 to Louis Moore and 13 to Holland  as NC hit the 50-point plateau in a season opener for the first time since a 50-30 win here over Georgia Military College in 2014.

In addition to his TD reception, Holland, a freshman from Beaumont West Brook, gained a team-high 107 yards and scored on second-half runs of five and two yards.

Still, the biggest play and the only defensive score of the game occurred with 6:23 left -- just :24 after the Bulldogs had reclaimed a 46-43 lead on Holland's two-yard run, plus Delozier's two-point conversion pass to Edwards.

Davis, a freshman from Greenville, picked off freshman quarterback Brendon Strickland's pass and returned it 42 yards for an ensuring 10-point lead (53-43) after Alexis Lopez booted his sixth conversion in as many tries.  Davis jumped a hitch route, snatched the ball and scored the pivotal touchdown. The scoring return was Navarro's first since Tray Bishop picked off Cisco, Texas A&T and Trinity Valley passes and returned each for touchdowns in the 2019 season.  

TJC managed to pull within 53-50 on Strickland's 25-yard pass to Azhuan Dingle with Pedro Yeverino's conversion kick at 4:56.  Navarro, however, recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock with the final three of their 31 first downs on the day. 

In each half, the Apaches drove to the Navarro five-yard-line, only to be repelled.  Both times, TJC settled for Yeverino field goals of 31 and 24 yards. 

The Bulldogs led 24-19 at half, achieved with :24 remaining as Delozier found Louis Moore over the middle for a 35-yard touchdown.

Saturday's opener produced a combined 103 points from 162 offensive plays (90 by Navarro), a total of 1,153 offensive yards and 1,424 total yards -- nothing short of video-game numbers when these two teams clash recently.  The Bulldogs and TJC have combined to light up the scoreboard for 100 points or more in five meetings since 2014.

Delozier's 38 completions is the most by a Navarro quarterback since Kenneth Arthur went 42-of-70 in a game against TJC in 2016. 

Navarro travels next Saturday to Roswell, NM, to face the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos in a regular-season rematch of the 2019 SWJCFC title game.  Coach Joe Fortchner's Broncos (0-1) celebrate their home opener after Saturday's 31-20 loss at Cisco.