JUNIOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Not in the Cards

PITTSBURG, Kan. —

PITTSBURG, Kan.The Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals outperformed the Butler Grizzlies in so many ways Sunday.They just couldn’t outscore them.

Jasper Sanders scored the game-winning touchdown with less than three minutes to play to lift the third-ranked Grizzlies (11-1) to a 21-17 win over No. 10 TVCC (8-3) at the third-annual Citizens Bank Bowl played at Carnie Smith Stadium on the campus of Pittsburg State University.

The win was the 11^th straight for the Grizzlies, who lost to Navarro College in the season opener in August. Butler also lost to Navarro in the 2010 NJCAA national championship game, which was played at Carnie Smith Stadium.

The Cardinals – who finished with eight wins for the first time since 2005 – saw the school’s seven-game bowl winning streak come to an end. TVCC’s last defeat in a bowl game came in 1984, a 35-34 loss to Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. TVCC is now 9-9 all-time in bowl games.

“It just didn’t happen for us today,” TVCC head coach Brad Smiley said. “We just didn’t make enough plays.”

The Cardinals lost the game despite outgaining the Grizzlies offensively (351 total yards to 259 for the Grizzlies), winning the turnover battle (four for TVCC, six for Butler) and being the only team to score points (10) off turnovers. What proved fatal for the Cardinals, though, was the fact they committed all four of their turnovers inside the Butler 35. They fumbled away possessions at the Butler 4-yard line and at the 34, and threw interceptions at the Butler 11 and in the Butler end zone.

By the time the game ended, TVCC had run 30 plays at the Butler 35 or closer, but scored only 10 points. Cardinal kicker Saul Martinez, who has been solid in his freshman season, also missed a pair of field goals, including one from 28 yards away.

“What you had is two offenses that looked like they haven’t played in a month,” said Smiley, whose team hadn’t played since a Nov. 5 loss to Navarro in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference semifinals at Bruce Field in Athens. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s a reason this game had two of the top defenses in the country. A good defense beats a good offense. When you have this long of a layoff, the defenses are going to have the advantage. It sure looked that way today.”

The Grizzlies’ game-winning touchdown capped an eight-play, 89-yard drive. The drive nearly stalled at midfield, but quarterback Chandler Whitmer hit Javess Blue on a 41-yard completion on third-and-11. Sanders scored on a four-yard run on the next play, following TVCC’s second penalty for having 12 men on the field on the drive.

The Cardinals got one more chance, getting the ball back at their own 17 with 2:37 left, but couldn’t pick up a first down. Smiley ‘s club played the last two series with backup Deric Davis at quarterback, as regular starter Tucker Carter left the game with an injury at the 9:38 mark of the fourth quarter after fumbling at the Butler 35. Carter finished his TVCC career 9-2 as a starter. He was sacked three times by a Butler defense that kept the pressure on all afternoon.

“Those guys (on defense) are the main reason we were able to get this victory,” Butler head coach Todd Morrell said. “We were in some bad spots and those guys, they bend but they don’t break.”

The Cardinals held leads twice in the game, including a 7-0 advantage nine minutes into the game after Anthony Garner’s 10-yard interception return for a touchdown. Their last lead came at the conclusion of a six-play, 91-yard drive that ended with Carter’s nine-yard touchdown pass to James Jackson to make it 17-14 with 14:20 left in the game. The drive was helped along by a 37-yard reception from Carter to Walker and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Butler.

Penalties were as prevalent as parkas on a 38-degree day, with TVCC getting flagged 15 times for 119 yards and Butler getting hit with eight penalties for 76 yards. Twelve of those penalties combined for TVCC and Butler were for personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct.

NOTES: TVCC sophomore wide receiver Derel Walker won the game’s Offensive MVP after catching seven passes for 108 yards. Butler’s Zach Miller was named Defensive MVP after recording eight tackles with an interception. … The Cardinals resorted to a bit of trickery in the third quarter, when quarterback Tucker Carter acted confused and walked toward the sideline as the team got set at the line of scrimmage on third-and-four. As Carter walked away with the Butler defense watching him, the ball was snapped to running back Mason Hayes, who ran for 12 yards. … Four Cardinals got interceptions off Butler QB Chandler Whitmer – Davion Henry, Kent Gainous, Anthony Garner and Paul Dawson.

GRIZZLIES 21, CARDINALS 17

TVCC BCC

First Downs 24 19

Rushing Yards 36-105 43-60

Passing Yards 246 199

Total Yards 351 259

Passes Att. 27 10

Passes Comp. 44 26

Interceptions 2 4

Fumbles/Lost 5/2 5/2

Penalties 15/119 8/76

Punts 6/32.7 6/30.8

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TVCC 7 0 3 7 — 17

BCC 7 7 0 7 — 21

SCORING SUMMARY

TVCC – Anthony Garner 10 interception return (Saul Martinez kick) 6:00

BCC – Jasper Sanders 10 run (Conner Frazell kick) 2:54

BCC – Chandler Whitmer 46 pass to Javess Blue (Frazell kick) 14:00

TVCC – Martinez 45 FG 3:11

TVCC – Tucker Carter 9 pass to James Jackson (Martinez kick) 14:20

BCC – Sanders 4 run (Frazell kick) 2:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — TVCC: Mason Hayes 12-58; Rufus Mason 5-17; Tucker Carter 10-32; Drew Hellriegel 2-11; Jack Brown 1-11; Vedial Johnson 4-6; James Jackson 1-1; Adrian Henderson 1-0. BCC: Jasper Sanders 12-49; Derrick Thomas 9-41; Dreamius Smith 9-19; Chandler Whitmer 10-20; team 3-0 .

RECEIVING — TVCC: Derel Walker 7-108; Adrian Henderson 7-39; Drew Hellriegel 5-38; James Jackson 4-23; Vedial Johnson 2-23; K’Sean Wesley 1-9; Jack Brown 1-6. BCC: Tyler Dunham 3-47; Javess Blue 2-87; Jacob Hurla 2-19; Derrick Thomas 1-20; Kendall Wrenn 1-12; Devon Boyce 1-10; Chris Fields 1-4 .

PASSING — TVCC: Tucker Carter 25-40-231-2-1; Deric Davis 2-4-15-0-0. BCC: Chandler Whitmer 10-26-199-4-1 .

ATTENDANCE: 1,735

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TVCC's bowl streak snapped in 21-17 loss to Butler

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