Paratrooper
09-02-2006, 11:10 AM
Cardinals rally, drop Liberty
LIBERTY — The first thing Bridge City coach Claude Tarver asked his team after the game was, “We did win, didn’t we?”
Of course, the answer was yes. The Cardinals escaped with a 24-20 win Friday night over Liberty at Memorial Stadium.
It was a typical first game: too many penalties, missed assignments and blown tackles. However, you don’t get style points in this game and a win is a win.
“We were fortunate to win the game and I’m real proud of the kids for hanging in there,” said Tarver after the game. “It seemed like every series we had something go bad, either a bad snap or a fumble. I feel real fortunate that we scored as many points as we did and get the victory.
“There are lots of concerns. We weren’t very crisp on offense and the defense gave up a lot of yardage. We’re a fairly inexperienced team this year. It feels good to get a win in this first game. Now we have two weeks to go back to practice and get some of this worked out.”
Trailing 20-17, BC got the ball back with just under five minutes left in the game. That’s when Johnny Dishon did what you would expect a three-year varsity starter to do. He took over the game and made the big plays when his team needed it most.
After a 2-yard gain by Cody Mills on the drive’s first play, Dishon carried the ball four straight times. The last of which came on a second-and-seven play when he did his best Houdini impersonation.
Liberty looked to have him corralled for what would have been at least a 15-yard loss. But Dishon twisted and turned to escape would-be tacklers and scrambled his way down to the eight yard line. Mills finished the job for Dishon, scoring on a 3-yard plunge to give BC the lead for good at 24-20 with just 2:19 remaining in the game.
Trailing 10-7 to open the second half, the Panthers took the second-half kickoff and ran 12 straight running plays. Then on 3rd-and-10 from the BC 20, quarterback Steve Gee hit Daniel Connevey on a scoring strike that gave Liberty a 14-10 lead.
BC answered back on its second possession of the second half. After Liberty failed to convert on fourth down, the Cardinals took over at their 36. Dishon turned in a highlight reel run covering 62 yards that put the ball at the Liberty 2. Jeff Stringer scored on a quarterback sneak on the very next play to put BC back up 17-14.
A 31-yard kickoff return by Jarod Moss gave Liberty good field position on its next possession and the Panthers didn’t waste the opportunity.
Gee connected with Daryll Zalesak on a 14-yard completion and Trevan Beaty followed with a 13-yard run to set up first-and-goal at the 4. Gee called his own number on a 4-yard TD scamper up the middle. BC blocked the extra-point attempt to make the score 20-14.
BC’s offense rolled up 336 yards of total offense, 281 coming on the ground and the remaining 55 through the air. The production is something Tarver hopes to see every week.
“We’re going to be an explosive type of team,” commented Tarver. “If we can just be consistent and not make some of the mistakes we made tonight, then we are going to be a pretty good offensive team this season.”
Dishon, who completed 3-of-6 passes for 55 yards, shared the quarterbacking duties with fellow senior Jeff Stringer. It’s something Cardinals’ fans should get used to seeing.
LIBERTY — The first thing Bridge City coach Claude Tarver asked his team after the game was, “We did win, didn’t we?”
Of course, the answer was yes. The Cardinals escaped with a 24-20 win Friday night over Liberty at Memorial Stadium.
It was a typical first game: too many penalties, missed assignments and blown tackles. However, you don’t get style points in this game and a win is a win.
“We were fortunate to win the game and I’m real proud of the kids for hanging in there,” said Tarver after the game. “It seemed like every series we had something go bad, either a bad snap or a fumble. I feel real fortunate that we scored as many points as we did and get the victory.
“There are lots of concerns. We weren’t very crisp on offense and the defense gave up a lot of yardage. We’re a fairly inexperienced team this year. It feels good to get a win in this first game. Now we have two weeks to go back to practice and get some of this worked out.”
Trailing 20-17, BC got the ball back with just under five minutes left in the game. That’s when Johnny Dishon did what you would expect a three-year varsity starter to do. He took over the game and made the big plays when his team needed it most.
After a 2-yard gain by Cody Mills on the drive’s first play, Dishon carried the ball four straight times. The last of which came on a second-and-seven play when he did his best Houdini impersonation.
Liberty looked to have him corralled for what would have been at least a 15-yard loss. But Dishon twisted and turned to escape would-be tacklers and scrambled his way down to the eight yard line. Mills finished the job for Dishon, scoring on a 3-yard plunge to give BC the lead for good at 24-20 with just 2:19 remaining in the game.
Trailing 10-7 to open the second half, the Panthers took the second-half kickoff and ran 12 straight running plays. Then on 3rd-and-10 from the BC 20, quarterback Steve Gee hit Daniel Connevey on a scoring strike that gave Liberty a 14-10 lead.
BC answered back on its second possession of the second half. After Liberty failed to convert on fourth down, the Cardinals took over at their 36. Dishon turned in a highlight reel run covering 62 yards that put the ball at the Liberty 2. Jeff Stringer scored on a quarterback sneak on the very next play to put BC back up 17-14.
A 31-yard kickoff return by Jarod Moss gave Liberty good field position on its next possession and the Panthers didn’t waste the opportunity.
Gee connected with Daryll Zalesak on a 14-yard completion and Trevan Beaty followed with a 13-yard run to set up first-and-goal at the 4. Gee called his own number on a 4-yard TD scamper up the middle. BC blocked the extra-point attempt to make the score 20-14.
BC’s offense rolled up 336 yards of total offense, 281 coming on the ground and the remaining 55 through the air. The production is something Tarver hopes to see every week.
“We’re going to be an explosive type of team,” commented Tarver. “If we can just be consistent and not make some of the mistakes we made tonight, then we are going to be a pretty good offensive team this season.”
Dishon, who completed 3-of-6 passes for 55 yards, shared the quarterbacking duties with fellow senior Jeff Stringer. It’s something Cardinals’ fans should get used to seeing.