ATHENS —
The Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals will begin a crucial four-game, season-ending stretch beginning Saturday when they host Northeastern Oklahoma in a 3 p.m. start at Bruce Field.
But then again, TVCC head coach Brad Smiley considers each game as crucial as the next, so there’s nothing bigger that what lies immediately ahead.
The Cardinals are 5-0 and ranked No. 8 in the country. Following the NEO game, Smiley’s team will travel to No. 1 Blinn and then Cisco before wrapping up the regular season at home against No. 7 Navarro — which was knocked from the top spot in the national poll last week by Blinn.
While acknowledging the big games ahead, Smiley said he’s not paying any attention to talk of national championships or the fact TVCC is 5-0 since 1997.
“This is 2011 and we have our goals,” Smiley said. “We know we’ve got a tough stretch to finish out our season, but we’ve got to worry about NEO. ... Our goal is still home playoff games and a conference championship.”
The Cardinals are coming off a 35-0 win over Arkansas Baptist last week, while NEO fell to Kilgore, 38-23. Though NEO is still looking for its first conference win, Smiley said he sees on film that the Golden Norsemen are improving each week.
“You don’t hire back a Hall of Famer thinking he’s not going to come in here ready to play,” Smiley said, referring to NEO head coach Dale Patterson. The Golden Norsemen were 60-25 under Patterson during his last stint at the school in the late 1990s and early 2000s. NEO won three conference titles during that time, and Patterson was named to the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2005 after his departure from the school.
To beat NEO, the Cardinals are likely going to have to cut down on their turnovers. They’ve given up five in each of the last two games — though both still ended in TVCC wins.
But NEO, likewise, may have to deal with a burgeoning TVCC running game. Smiley said after last week’s win that Vedial Johnson and Rufus Mason are starting to separate themselves after combining to rush for 241 yards and three touchdowns against Arkansas Baptist.
The Golden Norsemen are also going to have to deal with making their second long trip to East Texas in as many weeks after traveling to Kilgore last Saturday.
“I hope that’s an advantage for us,” Smiley said. “We’ve got to take advantage of this.”
SWJCFC standings
Overall Conf.
Blinn 5-0 2-0
TVCC 5-0 2-0
Navarro 4-1 2-1
Cisco 3-2 1-1
Tyler 3-2 1-2
Kilgore 1-4 1-2
NEO 2-3 0-3
Last week: Blinn 31, Navarro 26; Tyler 49, Cisco 42; Kilgore 38, NEO 23; TVCC 35, Ark. Baptist 0
This week: NEO at TVCC; Navarro at Arkansas Baptist; Tyler at Blinn; Kilgore at Cisco
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