By Robby Robertson Staff Writer

TVCC

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at Dodge City, Kan.

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Saturday

7 p.m.

Memorial Stadium

With the Trinity Valley Community Cardinals possibly having their best recruiting class in head coach Brad Smiley’s tenure, it will be the returning class that will lead the way in 2009.

Two who have already proven to be leaders on the team are wide receivers Chris Young and Darnell Williams. The duo combined for 944 yards and 13 touchdowns, but it is their leadership with the underclassmen that has Smiley looking forward to this year.

“These guys are not only great athletes, they show the others how to do it and what to expect,” Smiley said. “The players that came in last spring and this summer are following Darnell and Chris’s example. They are working hard and making sure the others know to work hard.”

Young, who was a standout at Austin High, said the Cardinals just fell short last year. He wants a much better regular season record and the conference title.

“I was happy with a lot of things we did last year,” Young said. “We had some good games, but we didn’t finish. We let Navarro beat us twice and we didn’t finish. I want us to come out this year and know that we have the talent and that we are going to do what it takes to with it all.”

Williams is from Orlando, Fla. He says at Deer Park High School he was a standout at more than one position, but has no intention of moving from receiver. He said the freshmen coming in need to know what it is going to take to get the job done.

“We’re not messing around this year,” Williams said. “We have been letting all of these freshmen know we have to work hard even when we are tired. We can’t play. We have to work together and I want to set the example for them. If we as sophomores do it, the younger guys will follow.”

Young and Williams were highly recruited by major Division I colleges as juniors in high school but just didn’t have the grades and test scores to get there.

“I didn’t really know if I wanted to play football after high school,” Young said. “Then Coach Smiley brought me in during spring practice of 2008 and he really helped me out, not only with my football, but with my school work.”

“Coach Smiley and the other coaches really showed us we could do it,” Williams said. “He let us know that the school work would not be impossible and that we could get some help.”

Smiley said even as good of football players as these two are, they have become even better in the classroom. They both have close to 4.0 GPAs.

“The first spring the two were in here, they bombed out on the entrance exam in math,” Smiley said. “So they had to take the basic math classes to get them ready for college math. “I think they did that through the spring and summer and then came back in the fall and nailed the college algebra class.

“I hear so many good things from their teachers and how they sit at the front of the class. They never miss assignments. I think this will spill over to the other guys and these young guys will follow their lead.”