By MIKE MONTFORT

Someone created a magical, miraculous story that was lifting the Bulldogs on a tightrope into the SWJCFC Playoffs during the final set of regular-season games Saturday afternoon, but it vaporized before the funambulism began.

Guys like Jack Turner and Louis Moore fought to erase as much as a 14-point deficit and delivered Navarro its third straight win, 35-30, as the seven teams in the league continued to search for four playoff spots.   Seldom-used Turner replaced injured national passing leader Qua Gray in the sescond half, hit 13-of-19 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns.  Trailing 30-28 with 1:15 to play, sophomore receiver-turned-cornerback Louis Moore stripped the football from a Cisco receiver along the sideline and returned it 39 yards for a most unlikely touchdown that gave NC its first lead and grew into legend as a game winner.

As a result, the top four seeds for the SWJCFC Semifinal Playoffs that begin next weekend are (1) NMMI, (2) Kilgore, (3) Tyler, and (4) Blinn.  Kilgore's 31-21 win over TJC vaulted the Rangers into the No. 2 slot and assures a 1 pm semifinal rematch at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium in Kilgore.  Blinn -- which lost to last-place NEO 21-8 -- won a fourth-place tiebreaker.  Among four tied teams, Blinn was 3-0 against Navarro, Cisco and TVCC and claimed the playoff slot.

The Buccaneers play NMMI's top-seeded Broncos at 2 pm Saturday at The Wool Bowl in Roswell, NM.  NMMI will have homefield advantage for the entire playoffs. 

Meanwhile at Corsicana, the work of Turner and Moore was epic for a Bulldog team stunned by the loss of Gray and  intereception leader C.J. Bosket.

Turner who was 3-of-4 for 34 yards all season and had not played since September 25 at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, answered the emergency call in a calm, poised way.  He threw touchdown passes of 30 yards to Jeremiah Aaron and 10 to Karl Reynolds, in adiddtion to completing a tipped, five-yard pass to himself.

Moore, one of Navarro's five 20-catch receiving brigade, was making his second start Saturday at cornerback in four weeks.  All the Mesquite Poteete sophpomore did was make 8 tackles in addition to the last-minute strip-and-score.

Navarro's defense shut down the Mekhi Hagens-led Wrangler offense during the second half, limiting Cisco to three field goals by sophomore Kaleb Cue. 

NOTES:  The 5-4 Bulldogs conlcude their regular season with NJCAA statistical leaders in quarterback Qua Gray, receiver-returner Jeremiah Aaron, receiver Karl Reynolds, placekicker Alexis Lopez and defensive back C.J. Bosket.  After the nine-game schedule, Gray led the NJCAA in passing yardage, per-game yardage and pass attempts.  Aaron leads the NJCAA in reception yardage and all-purpose yardage.  Reynolds is one of three receivers with a category-high 10 touchdown passes.  Lopez led in kick-scoring points (75) and field goals made (13). Bosket ranked second nationally in interceptions with five.....Aaron and freshman Adonis Scott combined to produce 1,175 kickoff return yarda for NC -- more than any other NJCAA tandem....Aaron completed his career with 2,497 all-p[irpose yards.

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