10 Observations from TVCC Football's win over NEO
The TVCC Cardinals kicked off the season with a big road win over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Saturday afternoon. You can read my game story from the 29-10 victory here.
Here are my 10 observations from the conference win.
-- NEO went 100 yards for a touchdown with the opening kickoff. The Golden Norsemen gained just 144 yards the rest of the game and did not score another touchdown.
-- If the TVCC defense is going to play like this all year, this could be a fun season for the Cardinals. NEO's offense gained a total of 95 yards in the first half and 49 yards in the second half.
-- On one play in the fourth quarter, linebacker Tanner Courson came on a blitz and was in the backfield as the NEO quarterback tried to handoff to the running back. So Courson tackled them both at the same time for a 6-yard loss.
-- NEO's longest pass completion went for 11 yards and came on the Golden Norsemen's last drive of the game.
-- After the slow start on special teams, the Cardinals went into high gear in the kicking game. Their pressure forced the punter to run rather than kick on one play and that led directly to a TVCC field goal. They blocked an NEO field goal attempt, blocked a punt which led to a touchdown, and forced a bad punt snap creating a safety. In the meantime, TVCC kicker Christopher Esqueda-Almanza hit all his extra points, was good on a pair of 32-yard field goals, and handled all the punting including a 74-yard bomb in the second half.
-- Maybe Matt Morrissey can do it all. The Cardinals QB1 threw for two touchdowns, ran for another, had a 40-yard punt that was downed at the NEO 2, AND caught a touchdown pass that was called back because of a penalty (video above).
-- To be clear, Morrissey didn't light up the stat sheet. He was 10-of-19 for just 135 yards. But he was very efficient. He completed seven passes in a row when the game was in question and his running (6 for 30) kept NEO off balance and helped move the sticks.
-- Morrissey's two touchdown throws were absolute dimes into tight windows, but my favorite throw came when the Cardinals really needed a spark. Down 10-0 near the end of the first quarter, Morrissey dropped back and was immediately under pressure. He kept himself alive in the pocket and finally found running back Cordrick Dunn down the right sideline for a 30-yard gain. Not only great pocket presence by Morrissey, but excellent vision seeing Dunn flash open. Give Dunn a lot of credit, too. He was the safety valve in the flat, but when the play broke down he worked himself open to give is quarterback a throwing lane. Up to that point, TVCC only had 13 total yards of offense.
-- Speaking of a well-rounded game, Dunn had the longest run from scrimmage for the Cardinals (14), the longest reception (30, tied with Christian Kaopua), and blocked a punt.
-- Saturday's game was the first for the Cardinals since Dec. 8, 2019, when TVCC played in the Midwest Classic Bowl. That's 476 days. I covered that game, which was also held in Miami, Oklahoma. So my last two Cardinal football games took me 1,448 miles and 24 hours of drive time.
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