The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

The Cardinals bounced back from a loss against Kirbyville with a victory over the Stafford Spartans 36-0, improving their record to 4-1. They are heading into their bye week before they start district play against the Hardin Jefferson Hawks on Oct. 8.

The Hawks (1-4) have a bye this week as well and will host the Cardinals next week. The way the Cardinals have been playing they should make quick work of Hardin-Jefferson for their first Dist. 21-3A win on their way to the playoffs.

On Staffords’ first series, Zach Cole picked off Spartans’ quarterback Jacoby Ceasor, and 2 plays later Hunter Clark put the first 6 points on the board with an 8-yard run. Devin Bertrand’s point after made it 7-0 with only 69 seconds off the clock.

The Spartans threatened on their second drive, that was highlighted by a double pass. The defense stepped up again to end the drive on the Cardinals’ 12 yard line. Bridge City took over, marched down the field, and capped off their scoring drive with a Matt Menard 1-yard rushing touchdown. Bertrand’s PAT put them up 14-0. The teams changed ends of the field with that score.

In the second quarter Bridge City took over after a Spartan punt. The drive stalled, and the Cardinals lined up for a 51-yard field goal. Bertrand had enough leg, but the ball hit the right upright about half way up the goal post and bounced the wrong way. Stafford took over but once again the defense flexed its muscles and took the ball back on downs. With 25 seconds left in the half, Menard marched in with a 6-yard rushing TD. A bad snap on the point after caused Colby Carpenter to pick up the ball up and run around the end for the 2 points, making the score 22-0 at the half.

The second half started off with a little excitement. Spartans’ player Jade Bolden seemed to exchange a few words with Cardinals’ receiver Mitchel Hubbard. Bolden then had a few altercations with his own players. Spartans’ coaches tried to calm Bolden down, but to no avail. Bolden then started fighting with his coaches. Bolden was then contained by a police officer, cuffed and taken out of the stadium. That’s the first time I have seen any player taken off in hand cuffs. It did not bother the Cardinals because the opening drive on the third quarter ended up with a 3-yard rushing TD by Clark. Bertrand’s extra point extended the lead to 29-0, which was how the third quarter ended.

There was only one score in the fourth quarter. After the defense stepped up and stopped the Spartans on a 4 & 1, Menard hooked up with Carpenter for a 23-yard touchdown pass and catch. After Bertrand did his job the final score was 36-0. Carpenter then entered the game at quarterback to get in some work.

Hunter Clark had another big game, rushing the ball 18 times for 161 yards. Menard finished the day off with 14 carries for 73 yards, also 9 for 14 passing with 103 yards. Cameron Dishon had 29 yards on 1carry and 27 yards receiving, hauling in 4 catches. Tyler Roberts had 1 run for 11 yards and 3 catches for 36 yards. Carpenter threw 2 passes for 23 yards and hauled in 1 catch for 23 yards. Jason Broussard had 2 catches for 26 yards and Hubbard had 1 for 14 yards.

Homecoming week, and the game was a success. Congratulations to Merissa Underwood for earning the title of the 2010 Bridge City homecoming queen.

Meet the Cardinals was really entertaining with the bands performance and the cheerleaders cheering. The fireworks display was amazing, and how about those Strutters?

The Cardinals will have an open week, which gives them two weeks to prepare for district play. They will travel to Hardin Jefferson to open up district. Let’s take a break and then make the road trip to support our Cardinals against the Hawks.