Trinity Valley ready for battle with Bulldogs
Oct. 20—The No. 8 ranked Trinity Valley Cardinals look to bounce back following their first loss last week.
The Cardinals (5-1 overall and 3-1 in SWJCFC play) host their Highway 31 rivals in the Navarro Bulldogs for Homecoming and Hall of Fame weekend Saturday at Bruce Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Trinity Valley Community College will also introduce the 11th class into the Cardinal Hall of Fame during halftime. Those members are Jeff Ayers (cheer), Matt Bryant (football), Elena Lovato (women's basketball) and Jeryl Sasser (men's basketball).
"It is great to see those who have come through Trinity Valley tradition," coach Sherard Poteete said. "Obviously we hold this place in high regard and it is not just to be good but great."
Navarro is 3-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play with it's only conference win coming Oct. 2 in a 47-43 victory over Kilgore College.
Navarro has averaged 505.4 yards per game and scored 38.7 points. The defense has allowed 476.4 yards per contest and given up 37.4 points per game.
"They are a much better team than their record shows right now," Poteete said. "They are scoring points like crazy. The offense is really good and they are throwing the ball all over the place and running the ball well. They are doing a lot of good things on offense. They are playing well but been in the wrong end of it several times."
They are led by sophomore quarterback Qua Gray, who is 145 of 259 passing for 2,260 yards with 14 TD's and nine interceptions.
His top target is sophomore Jeremiah Aaron with 34 receptions for 620 yards and four TD's.
Sophomore Kari Reynolds leads the team in touchdown receptions with seven.
In the rushing department, sophomore Isaiah Robinson has 152 carries for 743 yards with nine TD's.
The Bulldogs average 5.1 yards per carry and have two other players with at least 200 yards rushing in freshman Israel Morgan (235) and sophomore Elijah Hines with 228 yards rushing.
"Qua has matured and grown this season,"Poteete said. "He stands in the pocket and delivers it. He is running the offense and throwing it all over the place. He has a ton of passing yards and touchdowns. The interceptions are misleading, but he has done a good job of standing in the pocket this year."
Defensively, fans could hear a lot from sophomore linebacker Chatavies Johnson, who leads the team with 34 tackles, two for loss with one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Freshman defensive end Kenneth Ellison is another player to watch as he has 31 tackles and two sacks this season.
"I think it will be very similar to what we saw last week," Poteete said. "They will be four down with an even front and man coverage. It worked last week and I wouldn't expect anything less this week."
In last week's 21-14 loss to the Blinn Buccaneers, Poteete said said the big areas were turnovers and special teams.
"Our defense played awesome and after the first drive of the game, they did not allow a point in the game," Poteete said."Offensively, I thought Blinn did a good job of getting after us. We did not have an answer and we turned the football over on offense and on special teams. We couldn't put it in the end zone when we needed it. We didn't get it done in special teams and turning the ball over last week."
Note: There will be a tailgate party starting at 11 a.m. Saturday with games, music and free food. The pregame activities will start with the homecoming coronation at 12:30 p.m.
