Navarro Football: SWJCFC Championship won by the Bulldogs

During this season of exhilaration, the Navarro train continues to roll and fly, reaching new heights.

Once more, the Bulldog Express accomplished it. Ryan Taylor’s Dawgs defeated the Apaches for the second time on Saturday at Tyler’s Rose Stadium on Earl Campbell Field, holding Tyler at bay and winning the Southwest Junior College Football Conference Championship.

It was close this time and wasn’t over until it was done, but the Bulldogs never gave up after Navarro took the lead in the third quarter and won 31-28 to win their 13th SWJCFC championship and first since 2019.

All that matters is that Navarro won the game. For over a month, it has been the only factor in Navarro’s six-game winning streak, which began on October 12 with a 61-10 thumping of Trinity Valley and ended on November 2 with a 49-24 thumping of Tyler in Corsicana.

It was no surprise that this game was close because both teams were included in the Top 10 Division I poll, with Tyler at No. 7 and Navarro at No. 6.

Tyler had a 14–13 lead at the half, but the Bulldogs never let up after Haden Tessier’s 38-yard field goal with 7:40 remaining in the third quarter gave them a 16–14 advantage.

Taylor deployed two quarterbacks once more, and both of them were successful in throwing touchdown passes. Tim Burns dominated Campbell Field with ten receptions for 165 yards after backup quarterback Ryan Shackleton’s 54-yard beauty was the pass of the season.

After Tessier’s PAT and Burns’ TD catch put the Bulldogs ahead 13–7, Tyler quickly rallied and put them ahead 14–13 with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Tre Guerra to Lonnie Johnson. Despite throwing for a career-high 361 yards, Gurrera’s sole touchdown came from a 28-yard pass to Johnson.

Tyler had a greater lead at the half, but the Apaches missed a 54-yard field goal try and a poor snap ended a 40-yard effort. Tyler was hurt by those two plays, but nothing affected him more than when the Bulldog defence stopped a drive that was only inches from the goal line.

Still, Tyler led by one at halftime.

It wasn’t until 12:38 remaining in the game that the Apaches scored another goal. By then, Clay Thevenin had scored on a 5-yard run with 13:01 remaining in the game, and Tessier had hit his third field goal of the day, a 38-yarder that gave the Dawgs a 16-14 lead with the only points scored in the third.

When Tyler executed the play of the game a little over a minute later, when Johnson ran 71 yards on a fake punt to cut the deficit to 23-21, it looked even better than Tessier’s PAT, which had put Navarro ahead 23-14.

With a home field crowd and momentum, Tyler was able to stop Navarro with 12:48 remaining in the game.

Mason Shorb, the starter, had another clutch game, completing 19-of-32 passes for 207 yards, none sweeter than his 3-yard touchdown hookup to Shawn Brown to increase Navarro’s lead to 29-23. The Bulldogs ignored the crowd and Apache momentum had a crucial drive that ended with a touchdown pass.

Shackleton, the play’s holder, then improvised and threw a 2-point conversion pass to Jeremiah Vensor, turning a missed snap into a 31–21 lead.

With 3:05 remaining, Tyler returned with a 24-yard touchdown run from Lavarion Logan, and Navarro ended the game with another SWJCFC title. The Bulldogs will play Coffeyville (Kansas) in the C.H.A.M.PS Heart of Texas Bowl on Dec. 7 at Texas A&M University Commerce.