KILGORE — There’s no denying it: the Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals didn’t exactly get off to a great start Saturday night.

But that whole “finishing” thing … well, it looked pretty darn good.

The Cardinals overcame a laundry basket full of penalties and a breakout game from Kilgore College quarterback Andrew Jackson to grab a 44-20 win in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference opener for both teams.

You couldn’t consider TVCC running back Josh Johnson’s performance in the “breakout” category, however, because conference foes have come to know him as one of the best in the league. Johnson ran 24 times for 201 yards and four touchdowns, and he also caught two passes for 42 yards and threw an 18-yard completion on a slightly underthrown halfback pass that came up a yard short of a touchdown.

Jackson, filling in for injured KC starter Hans Cook, showed off an impressive arm in completing 21 of 44 passes for 306 yards. He threw two touchdowns but was intercepted twice – once by Kenneth Pinkard and once by Keivon Gamble.

The win – the first road victory for the Cards since last season’s opener in Dodge City, Kan. – allowed TVCC to stay near the top of the conference standings. Cisco, which beat TVCC two weeks ago, hammered NEO, 40-26, on Saturday to improve to 4-0 and 1-0 in conference. Navarro opened conference with a convincing 27-10 win over Tyler. The Cardinals host Tyler next week.

TVCC might consider itself lucky to have left R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium with a win when considering how many yellow flags were thrown its way. The Cards won the football game despite being penalized 17 times for 159 yards. The Rangers (0-3, 0-1) didn’t help their own cause, either, with 13 penalties for 92 yards. By the end of the first half, the teams had combined for more penalties (21) than first downs (18).

But the Cardinals won the turnover battle over those first two quarters, turning a pair of Ranger fumbles into 14 points and a 21-10 halftime lead. Kevin Garza’s fumble recovery in the second quarter resulted in Johnson’s second touchdown run of the game, from three yards out, to give TVCC a 14-7 lead. Pinkard’s recovery of a muffed punt with 3:16 left in the second quarter was parlayed into Blackshire’s four-yard touchdown pass to Chris Franklin four plays later.

The Cardinals broke the game open in the third quarter, going on a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive capped by a six-yard Johnson touchdown to push the lead to 28-10. Johnson found the end zone for the final time of the evening when he took the first handoff of the next drive 76 yards for a touchdown – thanks to great downfield blocking from wide receiver Dominique Raburn, who cordoned off two Ranger defenders.

Blackshire’s second TD pass of the night, a 24-yard strike to Pinkard, gave TVCC a comfortable three touchdown lead with a quarter-and-a-half to play.



CARDINALS 44, RANGERS 20



    TVCC    KC



First Downs    21    21



Rushing Yards    53-325    20-53    



Passing Yards    150    306    



Total Yards    475    359    



Passes Attempted    22    45    



Passes Completed    13    21    



Interceptions    0    2    



Fumbles/Lost    4/1    2/2    



Penalties    17/159    13/92    



Punts    7/36.8    6/45.8    



Score By Quarters



TVCC    7    14    13    10    —    44    



KC     7    3    3    7    —    20



Scoring Summary



TVCC – Josh Johnson 4 run (Jaimie Salazar kick) 8:35

* KC – Anthony Jackson 38 pass to Jecorey Quarterman (Ryan Bustin kick) 5:21

* TVCC – Johnson 3 run (Salazar kick) 13:27

* TVCC – Si’Darius Blackshire 4 pass to Chris Franklin (Salazar kick) 2:10

KC – Bustin 21 FG 0:00

TVCC – Johnson 6 run (Salazar kick) 12:01

KC – Bustin 31 FG 6:52

TVCC – Johnson 76 run (kick blocked) 6:33

TVCC – Blackshire 24 pass to Jared Pickett (Salazar kick) 9:18

KC – Jackson 15 pass to Winford Tennell (Bustin kick) 7:32

TVCC – Salazar 26 FG 0:52

Individual Statistics



RUSHING: TVCC — Josh Johnson 24-201; Si’Darius Blackshire 10-51; Dominique Raburn 1-1; Jack Brown 13-50; Jeremiah Williams 2-5; James Jackson 3-17. KC – Zavar Jones 4-9; Dexter Pratt 11-44; Olin Terry 4-0; Andrew Jackson 1-0.



PASSING:  TVCC — Si’Darius Blackshire 12-21-132-2-0. Josh Johnson 1-1-18-0-0. KC – Andrew Jackson 21-45-306-2-2.



RECEIVING:  TVCC — Adam Watson 2-(-6); Josh Johnson 2-42; Chris Franklin 4-38; Dominique Raburn 1-22; Jeremiah Williams 2-16; Derel Walker 1-14; Jared Pickett 1-24. KC – Zavar Jones 1-0; Earnest Thompson 3-32; Dexter Pratt 2-5; Tanner Marshall 1-2; .Winford Tennell 7-94; Jacolby Stokes 7-156; Jarvin Robinson 1-17.