BRIDGE CITY – Going into their regular season finale, the Bridge City Cardinals have a lot to play for as they welcome in the Splendora Wildcats to Larry Ward Stadium Friday night.

The Cardinals (2-6, 1-3) snagged a nice 14-8 road win at Livingston last Friday to keep their playoff hopes alive.

If the Cardinals can down the Wildcats (5-3, 2-2) this week and Lumberton (5-3, 2-2) downs Little Cypress-Mauriceville (5-3, 3-1) then the Cardinals could earn the fourth-place playoff seed out of District 11-4A Division I. The Cardinals must defeat Splendora by at least 11 points to secure a playoff spot.

Bridge City played huge on defense against Livingston last week as the Lions had no room to breathe while the Cardinals, despite missing starting sophomore quarterback Ethan Oceguera for most of the game due to an injury, found just enough offense to push past the Lions.

The Wildcats were stingy on defense as well last week as they slowed down the Lumberton Raiders for a 14-7 home win.

The Cardinals will be looking to slow down outstanding Splendora quarterback Cody Thorndyke.

After passing for 1,450 yards and 19 TDs last season, Thorndyke has completed 72-of-130 passes this season for 1,088 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Wildcat receiver Tyler Gamble has hauled in 24 receptions for 424 yards and seven TDs while fellow receiver Jagger Kennedy has 21 catches for 300 yards and three TDs.

Zane Obregon and Andrew Hernandez power the Splendora ground arsenal with 454 yards on 69 carries and three scores. Hernandez has 478 yards and two TDs on 83 totes.

The Cardinals got touchdown runs from both Colby Collins, who stepped in at quarterback last week, and tailback Rylan Ply, to help take down Livingston last week.

Bridge City will turn to Ply and fullback Andy Lara, along with receiver Jackson Tims to try and move the ball against the Wildcat defense.

The Cardinals will look to bounce back from last year’s game after they went on the road and fell to the eventual district champion Wildcats 55-13.