KFDM COOP Posted October 21, 2008 Report Posted October 21, 2008 BC ready for tough WO-S challenge Gabriel Pruett The Orange Leader BRIDGE CITY — For the love of Bridge City, the Cardinals are running the gauntlet these days. The Redbirds make a trip to Dan R. Hooks Stadium on Friday to face the No. 3 West Orange-Stark Mustangs after falling 21-0 to Silsbee last Friday. WO-S leads the all-time series against Bridge City 17-0, although the Mustangs did have to forfeit a 54-7 victory in 1992. The series started in 1986, the year WO-S won the state championship, and last year the score was 73-0. “Actually I like this week,†Bridge City Coach Cris Stump said. “The kids have been in a good state of mind all week. The Silsbee game did not go quite right for us but in a lot of ways we went toe-to-toe with those guys. Silsbee is the same team that went into overtime with West Orange. We are excited to play the No. 3 team in the state.†The Cardinals stepped up to the plate against Silsbee in the second half and did a much better job on defense. Silsbee, which also had a string of penalties and miscues in the second half, had 197 yards of offense in the first half yet could only muster up 78 after the break. The Tigers scored 21 points in the first half and were held scoreless in the final two quarters. “Defensively we are going to have to build off that second half of play,†Stump said. The Cardinals will have to play sound defense if there is any hope of shrugging of a dangerous Mustangs offense. WO-S’ offense is averaging 38.8 points and 340.6 yards a contest. The Cardinals defense allows 328.4 yards and 25.2 points a contest. The man running the Mustangs’ show continues to be senior quarterback Ortavious Hypolite. Hypolite has rushed for 346 yards and six touchdowns to go with his 581 yards passing and another six scores. The signal caller has one interception on 69 completions. Trey Franks is the leading Mustangs’ receiver with 17 receptions for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Gloston has 10 catches for 160 yards and one score. Quintavious Garrrett, who did not play a week ago against Hamshire-Fannett, is still leading the Mustangs with 512 yards and nine touchdowns. So the list of threats for WO-S is long and Stump knows the Cardinals will have to be on their toes on defense. “Offensively those guys spread the ball around to a lot of different guys,†Stump said. “You cannot zero in on just one guy. They are not in the I-formation anymore but they use the same philosophy because they use about five to six plays because they work. They just spread it out more now. They can throw it to a wide receiver, hand it off or that quarterback keeps it himself and moves upfield. “Hypolite is going to be a lot like what we faced with Silsbee. That guy (Silsbee’s Jeremy Johnson) really makes that team go and does a good job making decisions. We have to get a wrap on him (Hypolite) and if you had to pick one guy on their offense to stop, it is definitely him.†The Cardinals offense will try to get going after being blanked by the Tigers. Bridge City had 179 yards against Silsbee and now face a defense which limits its opponents to 134.2 yards and 6.8 points a game. One thing Stump would like to see out of his offense is for the Cardinals to be more consistent and start to take what the defense is allowing to give up. “A lot of the problems last week were mental,†Stump said. “The mental mistakes led to the physical mistakes. If a defense is going to allow a five-yard hitch, take the five yard hitch. If a defense is going to allow a four-yard run up the middle, go four yards up the middle. We just have to be more consistent on that side of the ball and not allows look for the big play.†Junior quarterback Josh Lemoine has thrown for 771 yards and six touchdowns this season with just three interceptions on 95 attempts. The running back slot is now in the hands of freshman Matt Menard as junior Joe Robertson is out for the season with an injury. Menard has played nicely with 206 yards on 32 carries, 6.4 yards a carry, and one score. “Matt has done really well so far,†Stump said. “I don’t think all the attention has really hit him yet. The best part about Matt is after a series he will walk up and say ‘Coach I need to work on my blocking. I am not blocking well enough.’ That is why he will be a good football player. He is always wanting to work on something and he will continue to get better. Right now sometimes the game moves a little to fast for him. As he gets older and plays more, the other guys on defense will not move so fast. It is a big jump from a ninth grade game to playing Silsbee and then the No. 3 team in the state.†The Cardinals will also look to get the ball into the hands of three receivers who all have 10 receptions on the year. Jerry Landry leads the way with 275 yards and two scores while Cory Moseley has 211 yards and three touchdowns. Luke Rhodes has 10 catches for 86 yards. The Cardinals’ offense puts up 296.2 yards and 20 points a game. Bridge City will participate in the Bayou Bowl against Orangefield after taking on WO-S.
skipper Posted October 21, 2008 Report Posted October 21, 2008 i wish the kids and there fans the best in this one
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