Paratrooper
10-21-2006, 10:16 AM
Cards fly past Cats in Bayou Bowl, 28-18
ORANGEFIELD — The Bridge City Cardinals got back to the basics Friday night at F.L. McClain Stadium and went back to riding the legs of quarterback Johnny Dishon.
In what was a close 7-6 game at the half, the Cardinals found ways to open up holes for Dishon and Cody Mills as Bridge City won Bayou Bowl VII 28-18 in front of a packed stadium.
The Cardinals (5-2, 3-1) kept their playoff hopes alive in District 21-3A with a key game against Kirbyville on the horizon next week while the loss put a damper in Orangefield’s (3-4, 1-3) plans.
“That was a tough one,” said Orangefield coach Blake Morrison. “I feel for the kids the most because they fought so hard. We had opportunities but they did not go our way.”
While Orangefield had trouble with their opportunities, Bridge City took advantage of theirs in the second half as Dishon and Mills both started to warm up.
With the game close at 14-12 in favor of the Cardinals, Bridge City racked up 14 unanswered points to make the hill too tall for the Bobcats to climb.
The first dagger came with just under six minutes left in the game after the Cardinals marched 48 yards on 10 plays.
The scoring driver featured all Mills and Dishon as the two speedsters chewed up the yardage and clock.Dishon punched it into the endzone from a yard out giving him his third touchdown of the night. Guadalipe Estrada’s extra point made it 21-12.
Mills had 18 yards on the drive on two rushes.
Mills then was the highlight of the Cardinals’ next series which started at the Orangefield 45 after Bridge City’s Logan Stewart came up with a key sack on fourth down.
“Our defense played a great game with a lot of hustle and they got after it,” said Bridge City coach Claude Tarver. “This was a great district win for us and now sets up a chance for our playoff push.”
Mills took the first snap down to the 1-yard line before two false starts backed the Redbirds up to the 11.
Dishon then ran for nine yards and Mills then did the rest after his second effort was enough for the score.
The extra point made it 28-12.
On the Cardinals first series of the second half that started on their own 38, the Cardinals marched all the way in on just four plays.
The first three were all Mills (11 carries for 112 yards) who scampered for 38 yards on three rushes and set up Dishon to do what he does best.
On a play action, Dishon (27 carries for 121 yards) brought the ball down and started moving his legs to the left side of the field.
With not much running room after a few yards, the senior signal caller then turned right and did not stop until the ref’s arms were in the air for a 35-yard burst.
Estrada’s extra point gave Bridge City a 14-6 lead with 10:53 left in the third.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight, both the first string and the second string,” Dishon said complimenting the big guys opening up his running space. “We had not lost to Orangefield since our seventh grade season so as seniors we wanted this one.”
The Bobcats then took all kinds of time off the clock on their first drive of the second half moving from their own 30 to paydirt on 17 plays.
Orangefield faced several third downs on the drive but were able to convert include a six-yard pass from quarterback Brett Ramsey to running back Danny McAbee. McAbee had his best outing of the season with 17 carries for 63 yards.
On a fourth-and-four from the Cardinals’ 14, Ramsey called his own number and picked up just enough to keep the chains moving.
Three plays later Chad Chambless scored his second touchdown of the night inching the orange and white even closer.
A failed two point conversion made it 14-12 but proved to be costly later in the contest.
Orangefield got on the board first in the first quarter as the Bobcats featured the run to set up a nice pass from Ramsey to Cliff Corey Sheppard. Ramsey finished the contest 11-for-21 for 129 yards with an interception.
The 36-yard strike brought the Bobcats down to the Bridge City 33 and then Cliff Mansfield found his way for a 22-yard rush while carrying a few Bridge City tacklers the last few yards. Mansfield finished with 50 yards rushing on nine carries.
Two plays later Chambless made it 6-0 Orangefield from six yards out.
Dishon got the Cardinals’ first score after Ramsey was picked off by Chris Foster.
Foster returned the interception down to the 1 but appeared to reach the endzone. Officials decided not to award the score since no referee was close enough to the play to see if Foster crossed the line after diving to avoid a Bobcat tackler.
It took two plays for Dishon to score from one yard out. An extra point made it 7-6 Bridge City.
Ramsey scored the last touchdown of the night from three yards out after the Bobcats stared the drive from their own 38.
The senior quarterback passed for 59 yards on the drive, the longest being a 20 yard strike to Ryan Granger that brought Orangefield down to the Cardinals’ 12.
Orangefield out-gained Bridge City 289-251 in the game with 160 yards rushing and 129 yards in the air. Bridge City picked up 240 yards on the ground and just 11 yards passing.
ORANGEFIELD — The Bridge City Cardinals got back to the basics Friday night at F.L. McClain Stadium and went back to riding the legs of quarterback Johnny Dishon.
In what was a close 7-6 game at the half, the Cardinals found ways to open up holes for Dishon and Cody Mills as Bridge City won Bayou Bowl VII 28-18 in front of a packed stadium.
The Cardinals (5-2, 3-1) kept their playoff hopes alive in District 21-3A with a key game against Kirbyville on the horizon next week while the loss put a damper in Orangefield’s (3-4, 1-3) plans.
“That was a tough one,” said Orangefield coach Blake Morrison. “I feel for the kids the most because they fought so hard. We had opportunities but they did not go our way.”
While Orangefield had trouble with their opportunities, Bridge City took advantage of theirs in the second half as Dishon and Mills both started to warm up.
With the game close at 14-12 in favor of the Cardinals, Bridge City racked up 14 unanswered points to make the hill too tall for the Bobcats to climb.
The first dagger came with just under six minutes left in the game after the Cardinals marched 48 yards on 10 plays.
The scoring driver featured all Mills and Dishon as the two speedsters chewed up the yardage and clock.Dishon punched it into the endzone from a yard out giving him his third touchdown of the night. Guadalipe Estrada’s extra point made it 21-12.
Mills had 18 yards on the drive on two rushes.
Mills then was the highlight of the Cardinals’ next series which started at the Orangefield 45 after Bridge City’s Logan Stewart came up with a key sack on fourth down.
“Our defense played a great game with a lot of hustle and they got after it,” said Bridge City coach Claude Tarver. “This was a great district win for us and now sets up a chance for our playoff push.”
Mills took the first snap down to the 1-yard line before two false starts backed the Redbirds up to the 11.
Dishon then ran for nine yards and Mills then did the rest after his second effort was enough for the score.
The extra point made it 28-12.
On the Cardinals first series of the second half that started on their own 38, the Cardinals marched all the way in on just four plays.
The first three were all Mills (11 carries for 112 yards) who scampered for 38 yards on three rushes and set up Dishon to do what he does best.
On a play action, Dishon (27 carries for 121 yards) brought the ball down and started moving his legs to the left side of the field.
With not much running room after a few yards, the senior signal caller then turned right and did not stop until the ref’s arms were in the air for a 35-yard burst.
Estrada’s extra point gave Bridge City a 14-6 lead with 10:53 left in the third.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight, both the first string and the second string,” Dishon said complimenting the big guys opening up his running space. “We had not lost to Orangefield since our seventh grade season so as seniors we wanted this one.”
The Bobcats then took all kinds of time off the clock on their first drive of the second half moving from their own 30 to paydirt on 17 plays.
Orangefield faced several third downs on the drive but were able to convert include a six-yard pass from quarterback Brett Ramsey to running back Danny McAbee. McAbee had his best outing of the season with 17 carries for 63 yards.
On a fourth-and-four from the Cardinals’ 14, Ramsey called his own number and picked up just enough to keep the chains moving.
Three plays later Chad Chambless scored his second touchdown of the night inching the orange and white even closer.
A failed two point conversion made it 14-12 but proved to be costly later in the contest.
Orangefield got on the board first in the first quarter as the Bobcats featured the run to set up a nice pass from Ramsey to Cliff Corey Sheppard. Ramsey finished the contest 11-for-21 for 129 yards with an interception.
The 36-yard strike brought the Bobcats down to the Bridge City 33 and then Cliff Mansfield found his way for a 22-yard rush while carrying a few Bridge City tacklers the last few yards. Mansfield finished with 50 yards rushing on nine carries.
Two plays later Chambless made it 6-0 Orangefield from six yards out.
Dishon got the Cardinals’ first score after Ramsey was picked off by Chris Foster.
Foster returned the interception down to the 1 but appeared to reach the endzone. Officials decided not to award the score since no referee was close enough to the play to see if Foster crossed the line after diving to avoid a Bobcat tackler.
It took two plays for Dishon to score from one yard out. An extra point made it 7-6 Bridge City.
Ramsey scored the last touchdown of the night from three yards out after the Bobcats stared the drive from their own 38.
The senior quarterback passed for 59 yards on the drive, the longest being a 20 yard strike to Ryan Granger that brought Orangefield down to the Cardinals’ 12.
Orangefield out-gained Bridge City 289-251 in the game with 160 yards rushing and 129 yards in the air. Bridge City picked up 240 yards on the ground and just 11 yards passing.