Cards head to Silsbee to fight for first

[Bobcatfan4life]

Cards head to Silsbee to fight for first

Gabriel Pruett

The Orange Leader

SILSBEE — The Bridge City Cardinals are 1-0 in District 21-3A for the first time under Cris Stump.

The thought of getting to 2-0 might seem like an uphill climb as the Cardinals venture to Silsbee tonight to face the Tigers.

Silsbee (2-4, 1-0) is coming off a huge 13-6 win over the West Orange-Stark Mustangs while the Cardinals (5-1, 1-0) knocked off Hardin-Jefferson, 20-10.

The Tigers dominate the Cardinals in the all-time series 30-6-1. The Tigers won the first game 68-0 in 1960 and won last year 21-0.

Stump knows the Cardinals will have to be on their game to take down the Tigers who have faced some of the best competition in the area.

“They have played Newton, Jasper and West Orange-Stark so game speed will not be a problem for those guys,†Stump said.

The Cardinals are going to have to find a way to deal with one of the area’s best quarterbacks in Jeremy Johnson.

Johnson has thrown for 1,157 yards and 10 touchdowns while also rushing for 142 yards and four touchdowns.

“Johnson is a tremendous athlete that can go at anytime,†Stump said. “When he pulls the ball down and takes off, he can go for 40 yards. Their running backs look like the same running backs Silsbee had 10 years ago. Nothing changes over there because it always works.â€

Chris Barnes and Rakheem Bolton share the load at running back for the Tigers. Barnes has 113 yards and a touchdown while Bolton has rushed for four scores.

“Their wide receivers are also great,†Stump pointed out. “They are a scary team.â€

Silsbee ranks second in the district with 277.8 yards per game while Bridge City’s defense ranks second with 236.3 given up a game.

Bridge City enters the contest with a great duo on offense themselves.

Matt Menard is second in rushing in 21-3A with 587 yards on the ground with six touchdowns.

The Cardinals also rely heavily on the play of Cameron Dishon.

Dishon has 139 yards and two touchdowns rushing with 244 yards on 12 receptions and six more scores. Dishon can also be electric on defense and special teams with a total of 11 touchdowns on the year.

Josh Lemoine has 451 yards passing with eight touchdowns. Lemoine has also rushed for 135 yards.

The Bridge City offense averages 242.3 yards a game while Silsbee’s defense is allowing 253.2 yards a contest.

“We cannot have turnovers,†Stump said. “We also have to find a way to point some points on the board because Silsbee is going to try to score in large numbers. The kids feel good about themselves going into the game. Now we are going to go out and see if we can catch them.â€