Tyner returns interceptions 100 and 90 yards for TDs to help Cards sink Wranglers

By Benny Rogers Sports Editor

No offense. No problem.

At least not for the Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals when it came to Saturday night at Bruce Field. Tory Tyner saw to that.

The Cedar Hill redshirt freshman defensive back returned a pair of interceptions 100 and 90 yards for touchdowns in the second half to lead the 15th-ranked and unbeaten Cardinals to a 47-13 thumping of the Cisco Junior College Wranglers in a Southwest Junior College Football Conference contest.

Second-year TVCC coach Brad Smiley's squad improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SWJCFC and will next face the unbeaten and No. 2-ranked (likely to be No. 1-ranked) Navarro College Bulldogs in Corsicana Saturday at 3 p.m. While Navarro (4-0) was outlasting Tyler for a 44-34 win Saturday night, No. 1-ranked Blinn was falling 20-17 in triple overtime to Kilgore.

While Tyner and the Cardinal defense stole the spotlight in the end, the offense didn’t exactly take the night off — just the second half. The TVCC offense was a model of efficiency in the first half, rolling to 319 yards and building a 28-6 halftime lead. The second half was a different story with the Cardinals managing just 41 yards and not picking up a first down until just over four minutes left in the game.

But the Cardinals, off to their best start since 2002, had more than enough to send Cisco to a 1-3 season mark and keep the Wranglers winless at 0-2 in the conference. TVCC scored on its first possession and stayed in control.

Sophomore Pat Cook led the Cardinal offense. He completed 9-of-16 passes for 130 yards (five completions were either for zero or minus yards) and two touchdowns. Cook also ran for 37yards, including a 17-yard touchdown.

The TVCC offensive line — Marcus Banks, Zak Lally, Roger DeAvila, Jeremy Flakes, Zack Spears and tight end Tarcellus Mitchell — pushed the Cisco defense around, especially in the early going. Cook had plenty of time to throw the ball and running backs Bo Walker and Chad Winbush could pick their openings.

Walker finished just shy of a 100-yard rushing performance, picking up 96 yards on 13 carries. Winbush went for 66 on 12.

The Cardinals scored on their first possession, driving 74 yards in 10 plays. Cook had the big play on the scoring march, picking up 27 yards on third-and-five from the TVCC 44. William Pittman put the points up on a two-yard run. Nestor Varona’s PAT made it 7-0 at the 11:22 mark.

Two possessions later, Cook passed 16 yards to James Cleveland on a fade route in the end zone for another score before the quarter ended.

The Cardinals gave the Wranglers a gift just before the opening quarter expired. A high snap from center on a punt resulted in punter Cody Lenz being swarmed on the Cardinal eight-yard line.

After losing two yards on first down when TVCC linebacker Roy Evans crashed through to make a stop on Daryl Richardson, the Wranglers scored on a Richardson run. Jason Thompson blocked the PAT, leaving the Cardinals in front 14-6.

The Cardinals scored twice in the second quarter on a 17-yard Cook run and 63-yard pass from Cook to Darnell Williams.

Cook’s touchdown was set up when John Turner caught a deflected pass near midfield and turned it into a 56-yard gain. On the scoring strike to Williams, Cook hit the Orlando, Fla. freshman in stride for a 28-6 halftime lead.

While the Cardinal offense went dormant in the second half, Cisco controlled the ball and the clock. But to the TVCC defense’s credit, it only bent and broke just once.

Less than a minute into the final quarter, the Cardinal defense awoke a large Parents Day partisan crowd when Tyner perfectly time his move on a Alijawon White pass on the Cardinal 10-yard line and took it to the house.

After an exchange of scores — a 65-yard pass from White to Rashard Manning for Cisco and a one-yard Ryan Balentine run for the Cardinals — midway through the quarter, Tyner was in the swiping business again. On the final play of the game, he leaped to pull down a White pass on the goal line, picked up a convoy of blockers and covered the 100 yards for the 47-13 final.

Also Saturday in the conference, NEO was a 39-13 winner over Arkansas Baptist to halt and eight-game losing streak.

Saturday’s schedule has Tyler at Blinn, NEO at Cisco and Kilgore at Arkansas Baptist. All kickoffs are set for 3 pm.