Published: October 22, 2009 03:50 pm      

Cardinals, Mustangs meet in crucial 21-3A tilt

BRIDGE CITY — It has been since 1975 since a Bridge City team has defeated a team with the name West Orange.

The Cardinals defeated West Orange 21-0 that year and since West Orange-Stark is a perfect 24-0 against Bridge City.

“Everyone knows Bridge City has never beat West Orange-Stark,” Bridge City coach Cris Stump said. “Our kids are excited to at least try to end that. No doubt this is the most confidence we have had going into a game against the Mustangs. We may be totally wrong but we are confident we can win if we play well.”

WO-S coach Dan Hooks knows this year’s Cardinals (5-2, 1-1) will be tough for his Mustangs (5-2, 1-1) to take down again to make it 25 in a row.

“The Cardinals are much improved on both sides of the ball,” Hooks said. “They now tackle people and don’t give up too many points.”

It has been a dramatic change over the last two years for Bridge City coach Cris Stump and his Cardinals on defense.

The Cardinals gave up 539 points in 2007 along with 500.2 yards a game. Bridge City knocked it down to 311.3 per game and 160 points in eight games last season.

This year the Cardinals have given up 114 points in seven contests and 252.3 yards per game.

WO-S appears to have found its offense after last week’s 62-0 thumping of Hamshire-Fannett.

James Haynes found the end zone three times in the game and rushed for 156 yards. Quarterback Reggie Garrett rushed for 97 yards and had five touchdowns on the ground.

Britton Lindsey continues to lead the Mustangs in rushing with 410 yards and five touchdowns.

Garrett has completed 56 of his 115 pass attempts with eight touchdowns.

Mark Roberts has a team-high 20 receptions for 350 yards and two touchdowns.

The Mustangs’ offense is averaging 284.9 yards a game in 2009.

Besides being impressed with the Cardinals’ defense, Hooks said his defense better keep an eye on the Bridge City offense.

“(Matt) Menard, (Cameron) Dishon and (Josh) Lemoine are all a year older and are making some plays for Coach Stump over there,” Hooks said.

Menard has bruised his way to 695 yards and eight touchdowns this season while Lemoine has passed for 603 yards and nine touchdowns.

Dishon does his damage all over the field. The sophomore has rushed for 160 yards and caught 14 passes for 275 yards. Dishon has a total of 12 touchdowns.

“We saw film of them against Silsbee and our kids are well aware of how good the Cardinals are this season,” Hooks said. “It is going to be a tough game. A lot of the points scored on us came off turnovers where the other team didn’t have to drive too far. We didn’t do that last week and we certainly can’t do that this week.”

Stump is wanting to make sure his Cardinals give themselves the best chance to win against the Mustangs.

“Last year they scored 35 points without their offense being on the field,” Stump said. “We have to stop that 35 for sure.”