Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
The eighth-ranked Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals have accepted an invitation to play in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove on Saturday, Dec. 2.
In a rematch of the 1997 NJCAA championship game, the Southwest Junior College Football Conference regular-season champion Cardinals will face the No. 12-ranked Garden City Community College Broncbusters. Game time at Bulldawg Stadium is 11 a.m.
It will mark the second straight year the Cardinals have appeared in the Central Texas-based bowl and fourth time in five years.
“We are looking forward to playing in the Heart of Texas Bowl again,” said TVCC athletic director/head football coach Brad Smiley. “We have had great experiences in Copperas Cove and we are excited to play a team that year in and year out is one of the best in Kansas.
“It is also really cool we are playing on the 20th anniversary of the national title game.”
The Cardinals and Broncbusters played for the national championship on a cloudy, cold day in the now-defunct Red River Bowl at Pennington Field in Euless. The Cardinals scored a 42-16 win to claim the college’s second title.
TVCC and Garden City will both bring an 8-3 record into the contest.
The Cardinals fell 26-10 to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in the SWJCFC regional title game in their last outing. The Broncbusters bring a four-game winning streak into the bowl, including a 69-0 against Fort Scott in their season finale.
The Cardinals, who have appeared in 60 consecutive NJCAA polls, will be making their 22nd bowl appearance and fifth in six years. They are 11-9 in bowl games and have won 10 of their last 11, though a win in 2013 was vacated.
The Cardinals also appeared in the HOT bowl in 2002, 2013, 2014 and 2016 – all wins.