Published: September 04, 2008 10:41 pm      

Bevil becomes leader of Dawgs as starter

For the last 11 months, Andre Bevil has been known as the guy who salvaged a game and perhaps Navarro’s season with a dizzying performance of efficiency against Tyler Junior College.

Navarro was 1-2 and threatened to go to 0-2 in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference when it lost its first two quarterbacks against Tyler.

An unheralded freshman from West Orange-Stark who played quarterback full-time only as a senior, Bevil ambled on the field late in the second period as a third-stringer thrust into the game because of injuries to the Bulldogs’ top two signal-callers.

The Bulldogs and the conference race would never be the same. Bevil responded to his newfound playing time with six touchdowns, passing for four scores and dashing for two more as Navarro romped past Tyler, 63-28.

Although Bevil eventually turned over the quarterback spot to injured starter Jeremy Sanders, he will forever be known as the supersub.

“You know, I wasn’t nervous at all when I went into the game that night,” he said. “I’ve had pressure in so many different ways in my up to that point, that I didn’t get caught up in the pressure on the field in that game. If anything, it felt a little awkward going into the game when the two guys ahead of me got hurt. Then when I took that first snap, everything was fine.

“The next morning, I woke up and couldn’t believe what had happened the night before.”

Neither could a lot of others around the conference. But Bevil’s performance gained him instant credibility with his teammates and now he’s be the No. 1 starter Saturday at 1 p.m. when the No. 6-ranked Bulldogs visit No. 3 Georgia Military in a battle of 1-0 teams.

Bevil had a somewhat successful debut last week in Navarro’s 19-10 victory at Coffeyville, Kan. Bevil rushed for 33 yards and passed for 112 yards and a touchdown while completing 57 percent of his passes.

Bevil completed 63 percent of his passes in 2007 for 323 yards and six touchdowns. At 6-2, 185 pounds, Bevil used his deft frame rush for 159 yards and four more scores.

Navarro Head Coach Nick Bobeck says Bevil has grown into his starting role and is ready to assume the leadership duties for the Bulldogs.

“Andre is showing up every day and getting better in practice,” Bobeck said. “He’s a natural leader the other guys follow. He is always getting everyone going and is getting our team prepared to win football games.”

That’s a role Bevil is eager to take on now that he’s the fulltime starter.

“I feel like it’s an honor to take the first snap of the season as quarterback at Navarro College,” he said. “Sometimes, we get bumps and bruises that makes us not feel like doing our job. But that’s part of the job. You have to take the bad with the good and make the most of it on the football field. We’re just fortunate to have the opportunity to play a game like football while getting to go to college at the same time.

“That’s why I’m such a vocal leader. I’m trying to remind these freshmen just how good we have it and how positive we can be on the field. Whether it’s being at the front of every line or giving advice to inexperienced players even when you are tired, I think every sophomore has to be a leader on and off the field. I take my role as leader very serious.”

As he does as quarterback for one of the nation’s top offenses. In Bobeck’s scheme, the quarterback is not asked to make a big plays, but is expected to manage the game.

“Coach Bobeck is very precise about his offense,” Bevil said. “He’s a man of perfection and he wants you to be pristine in the offense. Even if you do it wrong the first time, he expects you to make it right on the next snap.”

In that respect, Bevil has the right mindset, says Bobeck.

“He’s been doing all of the little things right and he grasps what we’re doing on the field,” Bobeck said. “Andre knows when to check it down in the passing game and also step it up in the running game. He’s the right man for a very important job for our football team.”