Talk about a big road win.

The eighth-ranked Cardinals stayed in the thick of the race for a SWJCFC regional playoff berth Saturday afternoon with a hard-earned 39-33 win against New Mexico Military Institute at the Wool Bowl in Roswell, NM.

The win improved the Cardinals to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in conference. They trail Kilgore by a game with one game remaining, are tied with Tyler and Navarro and one game up on NMMI.

The Cardinals are scheduled to close the regular season at home Saturday against NEO in a 12 p.m. tipoff. A win against the winless Golden Norsemen would earn the Cardinals a playoff berth.

Quarterback Matthew Duncan led the Cardinals against NMMI. He completed 21-of-28 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for another score.

The first half was a wide-open affair, resulting in the Cardinals leading 32-26. The second half was aa 7-7 defensive standoff.

Speaking of defense, the Cardinals had five players each recording 10 tackles – David Tuihalangingie, Joe Sniffin, Kobe Kendrick, McCoy Casey and Cameron Blaylock. Sniffin also had two sacks.

The Cardinals produced 515 yards of offense, getting 239 on the ground to go along with Duncan's passing yards.

Quincy Thompson ran for 140 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Hymond Drinkard picked up 93 on 12 and found the end zone twice.

Twelve different receivers caught passes, led by Kaleb Johnson with three for 59 yards. Rayshawn Glover pulled in a Duncan pass for a touchdown.

NMMI fell to 5-4 and 4-3 records.

In addition to Saturday's TVCC-NEO contest, here is the remaining conference schedule: Navarro at Tyler and Kilgore at Blinn.