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  • TVCC wide receiver Derel Walker (80) caught three passes for 76 yards and a touchdown during last week’s 63-0 romp over Independence (Kan.) Community College Courtesy photo

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September 2, 2011

JUNIOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Take nothing lightly

Lon Morris is newcomer, but winner of seven straight games

Jayson Larson The Athens Review

ATHENS — The Lon Morris College Bearcats haven’t played the kind of top-tier talent that most Texas junior college programs have to offer.

In 2010, the school’s first football season since 1940, the Bearcats played mostly small college junior varsities and their one chance to gauge themselves against Southwest Junior College Football Conference talent was wiped out due to weather (against Tyler Junior College).

So their first big test comes this Saturday, when the Bearcats travel to Athens to face the Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals at Bruce Field. Lon Morris will enter that game with a seven-game winning streak dating back to last season.

TVCC head coach Brad Smiley — whose team dismantled Independence (Kan.) last week, 63-0 — is well aware of the talent Lon Morris has collected in a short time.

“When we cut on the film Sunday and started watching them, we saw that they’ve got good speed and good size,” Smiley said. “They’re (building a program) the right way.”

Lon Morris was a 23-0 winner over Shepard Technical College of Memphis last week in a game played in Texarkana. The Bearcats rushed for 234 yards, with 106 of those coming from Terry Newsome.

Lon Morris and head coach Johnny Richey knows a win against a SWJCFC program would be a huge step forward for a program on the grow.

“They’ve had this game circled on the calendar since the schedule came out,” Smiley said. “This is huge for them.”

And huge for the Cardinals, too, as they look to prove they’re even better than their preseason No. 14 national ranking.

Seven different players scored touchdowns for TVCC against Independence, and six of those players hit the end zone for the first time in a college uniform. That was something Smiley was particularly pleased to see.

A team that has had workhorses in the backfield such as Chad Winbush and Josh Johnson over the past few seasons instead saw eight players carry the ball at least twice, with the stable combining to rush for 213 yards and five touchdowns.

The running-back-by-committee approach will be used against Lon Morris, as well.

“Until somebody shows us they don’t need to be taken off the field, that’s the way it’s going to be,” Smiley said.

The passing game wasn’t too bad, either. Tucker Carter was 16 of 24 for 269 yards passing with three touchdowns. His backup, Deric Davis, was 5 of 6 for 125 yards and a score.

Smiley said both did what they were asked to do, and said both will see action again this week.

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