Published: September 04, 2009 11:57 pm      

BC moves to 2-0 with win over Lions, 34-11

KOUNTZE — The Bridge City Cardinals moved to 2-0 for the first time under Cris Stump and did it in a running fashion.

The Cardinals behind the powerful legs of sophomore Matt Menard rushed for 256 yards in a 34-11 win over the Kountze Lions Friday.

Menard picked up 139 yards on 18 carries and scored three times.

“This feels great,” Menard said. “This is a way we can start this season off a huge note and hopefully it leads to bigger things for us. Our offensive line showed a lot more experience tonight and we came together as a team. Those guys up front made me and Josh’s life a lot easier tonight.”

Menard would be talking about quarterback Josh Lemoine who rushed for 69 yards on 12 carries and was 6-of-15 passing for 81 yards with no interceptions and one touchdown.

Cale Hyde got into the rushing act late in the fourth quarter and picked up 34 yards on three totes while Tyler Roberts finished with 14 yards on the ground.

“Our offensive line really made some improvements this week,” Stump said. “I still give credit to Kountze. They did a nice job of improving since last week and we were just able to make some adjustments. Matt is a strong runner. You get him going north to south and I am not tackling him.”

The Cardinals were forced to punt after their initial series yet put Kountze (0-2) in a similar situation.

Bridge City then got things going in its second drive of the night as Lemoine and Menard started to chew up the yards.

The Cardinals started on their own 46 yard line and Lemoine quickly gained eight yards.

Menard then chewed up another 14 on two carries.

Lemoine hit his first pass of the night, a seven-yard completion to Luke Rhodes.

Two plays later Menard busted out for 12 yards to bring Bridge City down to the Liberty five.

Menard started what he finished with a five-yard touchdown scamper.

A kick by Devin Bertrand made it 7-0.

The score stayed 7-0 in Bridge City’s favor until Lemoine threw his first touchdown pass of the season with 9:24 left in the second quarter.

Lemoine hit Jason Broussard on a 35-yard touchdown strike. Bertrand made it 14-0.

Kountze then put up a field goal with 4:57 left in the first half as Chamis Diltz hit a 29-yard field goal to make it 14-3.

After the Cardinals punted, the Lions set up on their 31 yard line with 3:08 remaining in the half.

Three plays into the series, Mitchell Hubbard came up with his second interception of the season as he picked off Kountze quarterback Aaron Graham.

The interception would come up big as the Cardinals went right down the field to score again.

Facing a 4th-and-9 from the Cardinals’ 28, Lemoine threw the ball up for Cameron Dishon who did what Dishon does and he made the big play.

Dishon out-jumped a Kountze defender to haul in the catch.

A failed extra point made it 20-3 at the break.

The Cardinals had 183 yards at half, compared to 44 for the Lions.

Menard scored both the Cardinals touchdowns in the second half.

The first was a three-yard touchdown with 8:54 left in the third to make it 27-3 after a Bertrand kick.

Menard then scored again with 10:54 left in the fourth. Bertrand’s kick made it 34-3.

Kountze was able to finish off the scoring as Jarrod Howard, who finished with 87 yards on 25 carries, punched it in from a yard out on fourth down to make the final score.

Bridge City will now focus on moving up the ranks for the next opponent, a game against 4A Little Cypress-Mauriceville.

“It sounds like the Bears played West Orange tough tonight (Friday),” Stump said. “It is going to be hard to go from playing a 2A team to a 4A team. Coach (Randy) Crouch will have his team ready to go.”

Menard agreed the Bears will present a new challenge for the 2-0 Cardinals.

“There are no easy games on the schedule,” Menard said. “It is going to be a hard match up and we will have to work hard just like we do every week.”

Dishon finished with two receptions for 38 yards.



BC 34

Kountze 11



BC 7 13 7 7 - 34

K 0 3 0 8 - 11



Scoring Summary

BC - Matt Menard 5 run. Devin Bertran kick.

BC - Jason Broussard 35 pass from Josh Lemoine. Bertrand kick.

Kountze - Chamis Diltz 29 field goal.

BC - Cameron Dishon 28 pass from Josh Lemoine. Kick fail.

BC - Menard 3 run. Bertrand kick.

BC - Menard 1 run. Bertrand kick.

Kountze - Jarrod Howard 1 run. Trey Walden run.



BC Lib

First downs 21 12

Rush/Yards 34-256 42-125

Pass 81 49

A/C/I 6-15-0 3-12-1

Penalties 7-65 6-55



Rushers

BC Matt Menard 18-139; Josh Lemoine 12-69, Cale Hyde 3-34; Tyler Roberts 1-14. Kountze Jarrod Howard 25-87; Adam Tantillo 7-29, Aaron Graham 8-8, Felton Jones 1-2, DeMarcus Tealer 1-(-1).



Pass

BC Lemoine 6-15-0 81. Kounze Graham 3-12-1 49.



Receiving

BC Cameron Dishon 2-38, Luke Rhodes 2-8, Jason Broussard 1-35. Kountze Chris D’Armond 2-40, Howard 1-9.