BY MIKE MONTFORT

Seventh-ranked TVCC used six quarterbacks, 12 rushers and 18 receivers from its Card deck in six games, but Saturtday, coach Sherrard Potette picked the right ones in quarterback Jordan Davis and running back Cortrick Dunn.

Davis and Dunn produced a tandem 100-yard backfield, combining for 263 rushing yards and four touchdowns as the Cardinals blew away Navarro 47-27 in the Bulldogs' Southwest Junior College Football Conference regular-season finale at wind-swept Tiger Stadium. 

Davis, one of four quarterbacks used by the Cardinals, punished Navarro with option keepers and finished with 13 carries for 139 yards, plus a four-yard rushing touchdown in the second half.   Dunn complemented inside, totalling 14 carries, 124 yards and scoring runs of 21, 1 and 2 yards as the seventh-ranked Cardinals (6-1/5-1) won their third straight game.

While dropping its second straight game, Navarro (3-4) finished a regular season with a sub-.500 record for the first time since 2005 and for only the 14th time in the 75-year history of the program.  The Bulldogs currently sit in fifth place in the SWJCFC standings.

TVCC also experienced success Saturday at Three-Card Poker when it chose to play quarterback Tucker Yarbrough during wind-aided second and fourth periods.  Yarbrough, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Manvel who originally signed with Navarro, burned the Bulldogs on 6-of-8 passing for 67 yards with a 27-yard scoring strike to team-leading receiver Korey King 0:50 before the end of the first half.  The TD pass pushed TVCC into a 26-13 halftime lead.

South winds, sometimes swirling and gusting to 30 miles per hour, were a prevailing factor from the outset of Saturday's 100th meeting between the neighboring-county rivals. 

Navarro's offense struggled with and against the tricky winds, held to its lowest yardage total (351) since the April 10 victory here over winless NEO. 

Quarterbacks Dodge Delozier and Qua Gray combined for a season-low 40 percent effieciency with 19-of-48 for 226 yards through the air with three interceptions.  Delozier was a dismal 10-of-33 for 159 yards, but threw touchdown passes of 40 to Quentin Lee and 41 to Karl Reynolds; Gray's 9-of-15 passing with two interceptions yielded only 67 yards.

TVCC harnessed the Bulldog ground game.  Isaiah Robinson led NC rushers with 60 yards. Elijah Hines accounted for the Bulldogs' only rushing touchdown with an eight-yard burst with 0:49 left in third quarter.  Still later, Navarro's longest run from scrimmage was Jakobi Holland's 26-yard burst during Navarro's final 16-play drive that died at the TVCC one-yard line with 1:09 to go.

NC, wind-aided with the opening kickoff, drove 31 yards in eight plays to the TVCC 40, where, on a fourth-and-five play, Delozier and Lee hooked up on a 40-yard touchdown pass.  But for a third straight week, the Bulldogs were unable to convert a two-point conversion after an opening score.

Navarro's 6-0 lead held until the final minute of the first quarter when Dunn capped a seven-play, 60-yard march with his 21-yard run.

TVCC availed itself of 19 wind-aided, second-period points and appeared to be headed toward more.  Fresh off a safety when the ball was snapped over punter Ryan Shamburger's head out of the back of the end zone, the Cardinals appeared to take a 22-6 lead on the first offensive play after the free kick when Dunn dashed 43 yards.  A holding penalty nullified the score.  Three plays later, NC cornerback Tyrecus Davis scooped Davis' fumble and returned it 67 yards to bring the Bulldogs back within three (16-13).

Touchdowns by Reynolds and Hines during a wind-aided, third period pulled NC within six (33-27), before Dunn's short-yardage TDs. 

About 30 members of coach Chuck Lawrence's 1998 Navarro Bulldogs, enjoying a reunion here, were introduced on the field during halftime.  Lawrence's first NC team went 7-4, but went 5-1 in games decided by three points or less and reached the SWJCFC Championship game on the road as a fourth-place qualifier under the league's playoff format.

------