Gabriel Pruett
The Orange Leader
BRIDGE CITY
August 30, 2008 02:45 am
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For the first time in the Cris Stump era, the Bridge City Cardinals are on the winning side of the record books.
Stump and the 2008 Cardinals proved to be the complete opposites of the 2007 edition with an opportunistic defense and a team not afraid of a challenge.
Bridge City picked up a 32-20 victory Friday over the Liberty Panthers at Panther Stadium behind six Panthers' turnovers.
Junior running back Joe Robertson and receiver Cory Moseley scored a pair of touchdowns for a Cardinals team which even came from behind in the fourth quarter.
"This sure beats losing," Stump said after the victory. "I told you earlier in the week this would be a dogfight and it was for all four quarters. I told (offensive coordinator Josh) Smalley that was the slowest clock ever in the fourth quarter. The whole deal was our kids confidence level was never in doubt. We were able to overcome a lot of obstacles."
One of the obstacles was staring down a 20-19 deficit with just over 11 minutes left in the game. It was the first time Bridge City trailed in the game.
The Cardinals did not let the Panthers lead bother them any with a quick, four-play scoring drive.
Two plays into the drive Robertson hauled in a 28-yard pass from junior quarterback Josh Lemoine who was starting his first varsity contest.
Lemoine then found Dustin Breaux for another 18 yards in the air.
Cory Moseley then hauled in his second touchdown of the game, this one from 21 yards out with 10:18 left in the contest.
A failed two point conversion made it 25-20.
The Cardinals were not satisfied as they forced a Liberty punt and then went on a mission to score again.
Lemoine had an 18-yard run in the next drive and four plays later found Jerry Landry for a 25-yard touchdown strike. A Devin Bertrand PAT made the final 32-20 score with 4:33 left on the clock.
From there the Cardinals were able to hold off the Panthers and even got a strong final play, stuffing Panthers' running back JaMarcus Glenn at the Cardinals' 2 to end the game.
"This is amazing," Robertson said. "We all worked hard, even in the summer, and were ready. I knew we had the confidence and we have already been through the worst last season. This year we have confidence in our defense to make plays and keep us in games. We were able to put up some points and we came out on top."
Robertson finished with 111 yards on the ground while Lemoine finished 9-for-22 passing for 151 yards in the air with no interceptions and three scores.
Liberty's offense rushed for 338 yards, 164 from Jeffrey Gibbs and 102 from Glenn.
Stump got exactly what he was looking for to start the game as Liberty's Jeffrey Gibbs fumbled the Panthers' initial play of the season.
Bridge City linebacker Allen McBride was there for the recovery.
Joe Robertson did not take long to capitalize as the junior went 32 yards for a touchdown making it 6-0 in a hurry.
Devin Bertrand made it 7-0 with a PAT.
"That is exactly what you look for in a start," Stump said. "Last year these things would never have happened for us."
Robertson applauded his offensive line for the long touchdown run.
"The first play, I saw our line was able to tear them off the line and from there I got the touchdown," Robertson said.
Jason Breaux would later come up big for the Cardinals with an interception towards the end of the first quarter.
The Cardinals then went on a seven play scoring drive highlighted by a Dustin Breaux reception from Lemoine which went for 18 yards on 3-and-13.
Four plays later on fourth down from the Liberty 18, Lemoine found Cory Moseley for the Cardinals second touchdown of the night.
The kick failed giving Bridge City a 13-0 lead with 11:08 left in the first half.
The Panthers then threatened to score as JaMarcus Glenn took the first play from scrimmage 49 yards down to the Cardinals 17.
Two players later Bridge City's Zach Heinze intercepted Liberty quarterback Jon Erik Zalesak in the Cardinals' endzone.
The Cardinals were then forced to punt before Blake Hubbard came up with another Bridge City turnover as the recovered Liberty's second fumble on the night.
The Panthers finally got on the board with 18 seconds left in the first half as Glenn ran it in from 23 yards out.
The kick failed.
Liberty had 198 yards rushing at the half with Glenn picking up 97 yards on 10 carries. Both Liberty's two pass attempts in the first half were intercepted.
Bridge City had 48 yards passing in the first half and 43 on the ground.
The Cardinals will be at home next week to face off against the Kountze Lions.
Bridge City 32
Liberty 20
BC7 6 6 13 — 32
Liberty 0 6 6 8 — 20
Scoring summary
BRIDGE CITY - Joe Robertson 32 run. Devin Bertrand kick.
BRIDGE CITY - Cory Moseley 5 pass from Josh Lemoine. Kick fail.
LIBERTY - JaMarcus Glenn 23 run. Kick fail.
LIBERTY - Jeffrey Gibbs 83 run. Kick fail.
BRIDGE CITY - Robertson 41 run. Kick fail.
LIBERTY - Glenn 47 run. James Freeman run.
BRIDGE CITY - Moseley 21 pass from Lemoine. Run fail.
BRIDGE CITY - Jerry Landry 25 pass from Lemoine. Bertrand kick.
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Lib BC
First downs 15 14
Rushes-yards 45-338 29-200
Passing 41 155
Comp-Att-Int 5-13-2 9-22-0
Fumbles-Lost 4-4 1-1
Penalties-Yards 3-15 4-25
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—BC, Joe Robertson 15-111, Josh Lemoine 14-89; Liberty, Jeffrey Gibbs 18-164, JaMarcus Glenn 8-102, Jon Erik Zalesak 15-58, James Freeman 4-14.
PASSING— BC, Lemoine 9-22-0-155. Liberty, Zalesak 5-13-2 41.
RECEIVING—BC, Jerry Landry 2-40, Cory Moseley 2-39, Dustin Breaux 2-36, Robertson 1-28, Grant Encalade 1-8, Luke Rhodes 1-4. Liberty, Ryan Hebert 2-12, Austin Gruver 1-13, Martin Sterling 1-9, Jacob McBride 1-7.
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