The No. 4-ranked Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals dealt with the elements and a quality Northwest Mississippi Rangers opponent in a 34-24 victory Saturday in Copperas Cove.

The contest was the culmination of an 11-win season and ninth straight victory on the season. In four appearances to the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl, the Cardinals have won all four contest.

"We had two good football teams fighting it out. This game probably had the best fronts in junior college football," Trinity Valley coach Brad Smiley said "I am talking about the offensive lines and defensive lines combined. It was a hard fought battle with the run game being smash mouth with big licks. Both defenses were able to put pressure on the quarterbacks. I know the completion percentages on either side could not be good. It was awesome today."

TVCC (11-1) had the Offensive Most Valuable Player in sophomore quarterback Michael Curtis. Curtis finished the game 16-of-30 for 99 yards passing and one touchdown. He rushed for 83 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

"It means the world to me," Curtis said. "It is nothing without my offensive line, running backs and wide receivers. Those guys and what they do for me play after play to bail me out and I try to get them the ball and let them get to work."

Curtis said playing in 40 degree weather and rain throughout the ball game was interesting to run the offense in the victory.

"It is Texas so Dec. 1 could be 80 degrees or 40 degrees and rainy," Curtis said. "We were all prepared and we knew what we were walking into. We did not let it get to our heads. As long as we take care of what we knew we could do, we knew we would come out with the victory."

The final points of the contest came with 13 seconds remaining as Caden Novikoff booted a 24-yard field goal for the 34-24 victory. Curtis said as Novikoff kicked the field goal, he told his teammates how much he loved playing with them.

Smiley said it was interesting to see the final stats as TVCC threw for 135 yards on 22-of-38 passing. TVCC rushed for 226 yards on 41 carries with 21 first downs.

"I thought the weather played a factor with the rainy balls," Smiley said. "I think it hurt both teams throwing the football. If we had a nice dry Saturday, I think we would have had better grip on the ball. That hurt the passing game, which put more pressure on the running game. Our running back crew are four studs and our offensive line is the best line in junior college football. When you have All-Americans and All-Conference guys to run behind, it sure is nice."

Jalen Brown opened the scoring with 11:15 remaining in the first quarter with a blocked punt return for the 7-0 lead.

Novikoff then added a 44-yard field goal with 9:30 remaining to extend the Cardinals lead to 10-0.

Northwest Mississippi cut the deficit to 10-7 with 2:03 remaining Tywun Walters powered his way in from one yard out for the 10-7 defiit.

The Rangers tied the contest at 10 with 2:14 remaining in the first half as Drake McCarter nailed a 39-yard field goal.

TVCC then took a 17-10 lead into the locker room as Curtis scored from six-yards out with 15 seconds remaining.

In the second half, Curtis opened up the scoring on a 20-yard run with 8:59 remaining. Novikoff booted the PAT good for the 24-10 lead.

The Cardinals added to the lead as Curtis found Dominique Thomas on a six-yard pass for the 31-10 lead.

In the final frame, Northwest Mississippi opened with 14 unanswered points as Walters scored on a one-yard run with 10 minutes remaining.

The final touchdown came with 9:53 remaining as Jerric Orr hauled in an 11-yard pass from Cam Bowman for the 31-24 deficit.

TVCC sophomore Cedric Battle wrapped up his career with 57 yards rushing on nine carries, while Adam Berryman had 43 yards rushing on 13 carries. Levonte Owens finished with three carries for 27 yards.

"Adam, Cedric and Levonte Owens are three absolute stud running backs," Smiley said. "We are going to miss them tremendously for what they have done on the field and their leadership off the field. The work ethic on the practice field and the energy they bring every day is a lot that we will miss. We have to find some guys to work with Khalil Banks and Daevon Woods and we have to hit that recruiting."

Due to the Dallas Children's Parade being canceled, Smiley thanked the band, Cardettes and cheerleaders for making the trip to Copperas Cove to support the team.

"The support staff that came today is big and was awesome," Smiley said. "When I walked out for pregame and the Cardettes and band was here, I could not have been more excited. I was grateful for them looking out for us. Friday, they gave us a send off at the buses with the cowbells and I thought that was it. I texted Darla Mansfield, Tim Samples and Doc Hudson thanking them for everything and that we appreciated them all year. I was fired up when they got here."

(Story courtesy Joe Elerson/Athens Daily Review)