BRIDGE CITY – After a two-year absence, the Bridge City Cardinals fought their way into the postseason with a big 24-20 victory over the Splendora Wildcats last week.

Now, the Cardinals turn their attention to Navasota as they will face the Rattlers Friday at 7 p.m. at Huffman High School in the bidistrict round of the Class 4A Region III Division I playoffs.

The Cardinals (3-6, 2-3) have picked up momentum the last two weeks as they will look to extend their winning streak to three on Friday.

The Cardinals went on the road two weeks back to notch a 14-8 road victory at Livingston and then took down the Wildcats last week to earn the fourth-place seed out of District 11-4A Division I.

The Rattlers (6-4, 6-0) ran through District 12-4A Division I unscathed to claim the crown.

The Rattlers have outscored opponents 240-176 for the season after getting off to an 0-4 non-district start.

In non-district, the Rattlers fell to Episcopal (28-3), Sealy (29-0), Rudder (41-24) and to Madisonville (43-21).

However, they exploded in district play, outscoring their 12-4A counterparts 192-35 in six games.

In 12-4A play Navasota knocked off Houston North Forest (42-0), Houston Worthing (49-15), Stafford (10-7), and Houston Wheatley (42-7).

The Rattlers like to run out of the spread.

Quarterback Zach Dyer has shown a tremendous arm and can run the ball extremely well.

The Rattlers have a go-to tailback in Darius Randle along with Joel Castaneda and Dyer does have a favorite receiving target in Darrin Thomas.

The Cardinals got it done the last two weeks with a much-improved defense and several players stepping up on offense.

Bridge City lost sophomore quarterback Ethan Oceguera to an injury early in the Livingston game but senior receiver Colby Collins has stepped in and done a superb job in running the offense. Both quarterbacks could see action against the Rattlers.

Meanwhile, senior running back Rylan Play has ran strong of late and had a big 10—yard-plus rushing performance against Splendora last week, including an 85-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that helped send the Cardinals to the postseason.

Also, the Cardinals will look to continue to get the ball in the hands of fullback Andy Lara and receiver Jackson Tims.

The Cardinals will be seeking their first playoff win since 2016 when they defeated Bay City 39-19 in the area round.

The winner of the Bridge City-Navasota game will face either Midlothian Heritage (6-4) or Henderson (7-3) in the area round next week.