By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

 

BRIDGE CITY — The Little Cypress Mauriceville Battlin’ kicked off their District 11-4A Division I campaign off with flair by going on the road and downing Bridge City 33-14 at Ward Stadium Friday night as the Cardinals celebrated Homecoming.

Senior quarterback Adam Pope covered a lot of ground for the Bears (2-4, 1-0) in the air as the senior quarterback completed 16-of-21 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns.

The Bridge City (1-5, 0-1) defense has issues with stopping the passing game all night and it reflected in the scoreboard.

The Cardinal defense did not allow a point in the second half, but 33 in the first half was way too difficult to overcome.

The Bears had a dominant night on defense, limiting the Cardinals to 119 total yards, all on the ground. LC-M finished with 325 yards.

The Bears struck first, but not after a Cardinal mishap on offense took place. The Cardinals fumble inside their own 20 gave the Bears an easy shot at the first points of the game. Pope would complete a pass to James Williams for 16 yards and the game’s first touchdown. After Kooper Abernathy put in the PAT the Bears led 7-0 with three minutes left in the first.

The Cardinals lost the ball again on the wrong side of the field, and the Bears took full advantage of the opportunity given. The Bears would drive half the field and Landon Bearden punched it in from six yards out after a solid pass game set him up to do so as LC-M led 13-0 with 11 minutes in the second quarter. Bearden finished with 68 yards on 19 carries.

Pope would chunk it 32 yards to Brendon Pollock for the third consecutive touchdown by the Bears. After another fumble the Cardinals pushed themselves even further into a hole. After the touchdown catch the Bears were up 19-0 with 9:32 left in the first half.

Quarterback Cace Skinner took over on the next drive for the Cardinals to punch it in on the ground. Skinner broke one for 36 yards to setup a 5-yard run by him again for the touchdown. After the PAT went in the Cardinals had life in the first half as they trailed 19-7 with seven minutes left.

LC-M countered for six more points and a large lead late into the first half. Pope unleashes a 64 pass to James Williams as he juked past the remaining Bridge City secondary for a touchdown. The PAT did not go through but the Bears took a commanding 25-7 lead with four minutes left in the half.

Pope found another pass for long yards and a touchdown to Williams. Pope slung it for 57 yards to Williams as he outran the Cardinal secondary. After the 2-point went in to Williams, the Bears took a commanding 33-7 edge with 1:18 left in the first half.

Cardinal back Rylan Ply scored a touchdown with just four minutes left in the third quarter. After a long 16-play drive the Cardinals finally score again. With all the plays coming on the ground, Ply and Deagan King drove down the field to setup a one- yard punch in by Ply with 4:05 left in the third.

Ply led the Cardinals with 39 yards on 10 carries while Skinner had 36 yards on 10 totes.

The Cardinals will hit the road next week to take on the Huffman Falcons while the Battlin’ Bears return home to take on the Splendora Wildcats.