The ‘ 90s : A great decade for Cardinal gridders
By Rich Flowers
Above : Jerome Lee runs for yards against Northeastern Oklakoma . ( ADR File Photos ) Left : Defensive lineman Carl Mitchell celebrates TVCC win over Northeastern Oklahoma .
Greater Athens Magazine | November 2022 | 21
About this time , 30 years ago , the Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals were struggling toward the end of a 3-7 football season .
Most would not have guessed the Cards would soon be the focus of national attention in a decade that brought more hardware to the TVCC trophy case than any other .
The pieces began to fall into place when Randy Pippin moved up from defensive coordinator to head the 93 team , which began to catch fire at the end of the season . After upsetting third ranked Navarro , they were awarded a trip to the Real Dairy Bowl in Pocatello , Idaho , to meet a powerful Rick ’ s College team , the local favorite .
The Cards dazzled the crowd with a 42-13 win and served notice that they had the talent coming back to challenge for the 94 title . TVCC shot to No . 4 in the final rankings , but became a solid No . 1 in the pre-season polls .
“ When we came back from Idaho in 93 , we erected two trophy shelves ,” Pippin said . “ One for the Real Dairy Bowl that we had just brought back and the other for the National Championship Trophy we planned to win in 94 .
Each time a Cardinal would walk by the trophy case , they could read a scripture Pippin had placed there .
“ Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen .”
“ The daily message was to believe and achieve ,” Pippin said . “ So we did and put in the work , but more importantly our faith activated God ’ s favor to go undefeated and No . 1 from start to finish .”
Pippin said he still loves Athens and the fond memories