BY MIKE MONTFORT

Navarro Football accepted an invitation Tuesday to represent the Southwest Junior College Football Conference as the host team for the TIPS-C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart Of Texas Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Memorial Stadium on the Texas A&M University-Commerce campus.

Coach Ryan Taylor's SWJCFC runner-up Navarro Bulldogs (6-4) will face coach Glenn Davis' Copiah-Lincoln Wolves (9-2) from Wesson, Ms.,  in a Top-10 matchup with a noon CST kickoff. 

The NJCAA's 13^th poll released Monday afternoon lists Copiah-Lincoln at No. 6, and Navarro at No. 10. The Bulldogs, making their fifth appearance in the TIPS-C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart Of Texas Bowl, will be playing their eighth game against a Top-15 ranked opponent   

Navarro will be appearing in its 22^nd bowl game since 1962 when it defeated Perkinston (now Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College), 3-0, in the Hospitality Bowl at Gulfport, Ms.  The Bulldogs are 13-7-1 in bowl games, but in search of their first win since a 34-27 win over Hinds CC, Ms., in the 2013 Brazos Valley Bowl in Bryan.  NC lost its last two to host teams – a 35-6 loss to Hutchinson in the 2018 Salt City Bowl, and a 53-34 loss to Garden City, Ks., in the 2021 Scooter's Coffee Bowl.

NC will be playing its first TIPS-C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart Of Texas Bowl at Commerce.  The Bulldogs went 3-1 when the game was played at Bulldawg Stadium in Copperas Cove.  After dropping a 49-14 decision to Coffeyville, Ks., in the first bowl in 2001, Navarro secured three wins within a four-year span, knocking off Mississippi Gulf Coast 37-26 in 2009, New Mexico Military 40-24 in 2011, and Georgia Military 30-23 in 2012.

Navarro and Copiah-Lincoln saw hot streaks cooled Saturday by conference championship game losses.  The Bulldogs had won three straight and six of their last seven before their loss at Kilgore.  The Wolves had a seven-game winning streak snapped by East Mississippi 27-20 at Sullivan-Windham Field in Scooba, Ms.  The Wolves spent the last six weeks ranked among the NJCAA's Top 10, the last two at a season-high No. 4.

Both offenses enter the bowl averaging 30 points.

One of Co-Lin's chief weapons is sophomore running back Johnnie Daniels, the NJCAA's second-leading rusher with 168-1195-14 rushing, plus 22-205-2 receiving.  One of only two rushers with more than 1,000 yards this season, All-purpose yardage leader Daniels earned NJCAA Offensive Player Of The Week after 14-168-4 in a 48-14 semifinal win over Northwest Mississippi.

Quarterback DeVon Tott guides the Wolves' offense to 350 yards per game, and achieves balance by completing 58 percent of his passes (158-of-272 for 1768 yards), mostly targeting Daniels or a pair of 37-catch receivers in Jayden Smith and Carlos Martin.

Placekicker Brandon Gilliam's 82 points rank second in kick-scoring.  He's hit 16-of-23 field goals (long of 44) and 23-of-35 conversions.

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NAVARRO FOOTBALL BOWL RECORD
(13-7-1)