BY MIKE MONTFORT
GARDEN CITY, Ks. – Navarro College accepted an invitation Monday to play in the inaugural Scooters Coffee Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 4, at Broncbuster Stadium.
The Bulldogs (5-4), making their first bowl appearance since 2018 and their 21st in school history, will face 12th ranked Garden City (7-3), the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference's runner-up. The post-season classic will be streamed live for pay-per-view subscribers only on the NJCAA Network.
Third-year coach Scott Parr's Bulldogs won their final three games of the regular season, but was ousted a second straight season from the SWJCFC Playoffs because of tiebreaker disadvantages. Third-year coach Tom Minnick's Broncbusters closed with wins in five of their final six outings.
Scooter's Coffee Bowl will mark the third all-time football meeting between the Navarro and Garden City. The teams played a home-and-home series from 1991 through 1993, and Navarro came away with 17-10 and 43-6 victories over the Broncbusters.
Navarro, 13-6-1 in bowl games, brings its air-raid offense that ranks among NJCAA D-I's top six in most major statistical categories, averaging almost 41 points and 505 yards with multiple weapons to test Garden City. Teamwise, NC ranks third in pass yardage (2973), fifth in per-game scoring and touchdowns (46), and sixth in total offense (4540), per-game offense. The Bulldogs were ranked as high as No. 14 once during the 12 polling periods.
Garden City will be appearing in its 25th bowl all-time. GCCC drew a preseason No. 5 ranking and was regarded in nine polls this season, with a peak at No. 2 for the week of September 13. The 'Busters counter with a balanced offense that averages 31 points and 393 yards, and a defense that yields about 66 yards rushing, and just 232 yards per game – a figure that's fifth in total defense.
Minnick (126-39) has the third-highest winning percentage of any NJCAA football coach. After a stint at Joliet College, Ill., he spent 11 dominating seasons with Arizona Western College in the old Western States Football League where he led the Matadors to 10 straight bowl appearances and three NJCAA national championship games
NAVARRO (5-4)
S-4 at Cisco W, 35-14
S-11 at Tyler L, 69-57
S-18 NMMI L, 39-31
S-25 at NEO L, 39-15
O-2 at Kilgore W, 47-43
O-9 Blinn L, 56-49
O-16 SU-SLA W, 37-2
O-23 at TVCC W, 61-40
N-6 Cisco W, 35-30
STATISTICAL LEADERS
QB – Qua Gray (177-313-2812-19-10)
RB – Isaiah Robinson (167-832-9(
WR – Jeremiah Aaron (45-846-7)
WR – Zavion Taylor (34-421-2)
WR – Karl Reynolds (32-618-10)
WR – Quentin Lee (26-379-1)
PK – Alexis Lopez (75 points / 13-16 FG and 36-36 XP)
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GARDEN CITY (7-3)
S-11 at Fort Scott W, 76-24
S-18 at Highland W, 15-6
S-25 Independence L, 26-13
O-2 at Hutchinson L, 24-16
O-9 at Dodge City W, 49-0
O-23 at Coffeyville W, 39-11
O-30 Butler W, 1-0
N-7 Dodge City W, 36-16
N-14 Butler W, 27-16
N-21 v Hutchinson L, 49-19
STATISICAL LEADERS
QB – Rhett Ricedorff (153-250-1786-11-7)
RB – William Knight (107-655-9)
RB – Dedrick Talbert (128-525-7)
WR – David Elder (37-418-5)
WR – Shawn Charles (34-385-1)
WR – Keyshawn Buckley (21-294-1)
