Published: October 04, 2008 09:35 pm            

No. 1 Navarro tops Trinity Valley

Navarro coach Nick Bobeck tried to describe his team’s win over Trinity Valley on Saturday, but after three aborted attempts, he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

The Bulldog fans and players are probably doing the same, but nobody is confused with the result, a 35-6 victory over previously undefeated Trinity Valley.

Top-ranked Navarro benefited from a punishing running game that produced 354 yards, including 172 yards from William Powell, and a timely defensive unit that denied Trinity Valley five times inside the Bulldog 20 to improve to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in league play.

But there were those five turnovers and a slew of missed scoring opportunities that kept Bobeck from handing out autograph books to his players after the game.

“I’m not quite sure what to say,” he said. “We beat the No. 12 team in the nation because we made plays when we had to make them. Neither team played really well. Who knows what it would have been like if we both played well.

“Trinity Valley’s got a very good team. It just came down to our team making a couple fewer mistakes than them.”

Navarro rolled up 23 first downs and 476 yards of total offense in the game, but two interceptions and three fumbles forced the Bulldogs to lean on their defense to put the game away

The Cardinals (4-1) played with a short field most of the final 20 minutes of the game, moving inside the Navarro 13 yard line three times.

One drive ended with a missed field goal that followed a touchdown pass that was wiped out by a penalty.

Less than a minute later, Trinity Valley recovered a Navarro fumble at the 9. Two runs netted five yards, and quarterback Pat Cook misfired on consecutive pass plays, one expertly defended by Bulldog cornerback Melvin Hopkins. The drive died at the Navarro 4.

Already leading 28-6, Navarro needed just one play to put the game away. Powell ran left, found the sideline and followed a fleet of blocking receivers. A head and shoulder fake turned Cardinal defensive back Tory Tyner completely around near the 50 and then Powell cut across the field to ease into the end zone for a 96-yard touchdown run, a Tiger Stadium record.

Navarro upped its lead to 35-6 early in the fourth period when Justin Sturns drove over from nine yards. Navarro started the drive at the Trinity Valley 29 when cornerback Anthony Brown slapped down a Cook pass on fourth down.

Trinity Valley was back deep in Navarro territory in the waning minutes of the game after reserve quarterback Ryan Balentine completed a 30-yard pass to the Bulldog 13. But Navarro capped its Saturday defensive prowess by sacking Balentine as time ran out.

Trinity Valley was held to 43 points under its average in its four wins to open the season.

It took all of three minutes of the game to see that it would be Navarro’s defense that would make a significant impact. Powell’s first carry was the lone mistake he would make in the game when he fumbled on Navarro’s first play, with Trinity Valley recovering at the 17.

That first series also flashed what would be a frustrating day for the Cardinal offense. On third down, Cook completed a fade pass to John Turner for a touchdown. But a motion penalty wiped out the first of two would-be Trinity Valley scores. On fourth and one, fullback William Pittman was stuffed for a 1-yard loss, turning the ball back to Navarro.

Three plays later, starting quarterback Andre Bevil read the Trinity Valley defense perfectly and found a seam on the left side, allowing him to ramble 66 yards for a touchdown.



Navarro 35, Trinity Valley 6



Trinity Valley 0 6 0 0 — 6

Navarro 7 7 14 7 — 35



N – Andre Bevil 66 run (Gabriel Elizando kick)

N – Justin Sturns 1 run (Elizando kick)

T – Pat Cook 1 run (kick failed)

N – Rodney Bradley 46 pass from Marcus Jackson (Elizando kick)

N – William Powell 96 run (Elizando kick)

N – Sturns 9 run (Elizando kick)



T N

First downs 17 23

Rush-yards 41-142 48-354

Passing yards 199 122

Total yards 341 476

C-A-I 17-35-2 9-17-2

Fumbles-lost 2-1 4-3

Punts-avg. 6-39 4-32

Penalties-yards 12-117 12-100



Individual

Rushing — N: Andre Bevil 4-65, William Powell 13-172, Derrick Hall 12-51, Milton Howell 7-40, Justin Sturns 11-41, Team 1-(-15). T: Chad Winbush 15-93, Pat Cook 7-19, Bo Walker 10-23, Jeremy Rouse 1-3, William Pittman 2-1, James Cleveland 1-4, Ryan Balentine 3-(-7), Marcus Mann 2-6.

Passing — N: Bevil 5-11-2-67, Howell 3-5-0-9, Marcus Jackson 1-1-0-46. T: Cook 15-31-2-138, Balentine 2-4-0-61.

Receiving — N: Marcus Jackson 1-13, J.J. Hayes 1-2, Rodney Bradley 2-57, William Powell 1-6, Andre Banks 1-14, Justin Sturns 3-30. T: Darnell Williams 4-22, Michael Tealer 1-31, Cleveland 1-9, John Turner 1-0, Chris Young 5-78, Tarcellus Mitchell 2-19, Bo Walker 1-11, Manuel Tijerina 1(-1), Jeremy Rouse 1-30.

        

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