BRIDGE CITY – Behind the swift legs of tailback Rylan Ply and a little help from the Lumberton Raiders, the Bridge City Cardinals will be soaring into the playoffs after they nabbed a huge 24-20 win over the Splendora Wildcats in District 11-4A Division I action at Larry Ward Stadium Friday night.

The Wildcats saw their playoff hopes vanish when all they saw were the back of Ply’s feet as the senior bolted 85 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown. It was one of two scores on the night for Ply.

The Cardinals (3-6, 2-3), after dispatching the Wildcats (5-4, 2-3), were waiting in limbo on the Lumberton-LC-M game in Lumberton.

A Lumberton win over LC-M and a Cardinal outright win over Splendora would have given the Cardinals a playoff berth. However, an LC-M win over Lumberton would have forced Bridge City to beat Splendora by 11 points to make the postseason.

Lumberton (6-3, 3-2) went on to defeat LC-M (5-4, 3-2) 20-14 in overtime after trailing the Bears 14-0, therefore the Cardinals celebrated their fourth-place playoff berth.

The Cardinals will take on District 12-4A Division I champion Navasota (6-4) in the 4A Region III Division I bidistrict playoffs next week.

The Cardinals got on the board first after a nice Oscar Carranza field goal.

The Wildcats then snared a 6-3 lead when quarterback Cody Thorndyke scored on a keeper to make it 6-3.

Cardinal senior fullback Andy Lara was able to put the Cardinals up 10-3 when he scooted into the end zone.

The Wildcats scratched right back when Thorndyke connected with receiver Tyler Gamble on a 65-yard scoring toss to make it 13-10.

The Cardinals closed the half with a big score Ply bolted into the end zone from four yards out to give the Cardinals a 17-13 edge.

The Wildcats went back up 20-17 when Thorndyke hooked up with Dallyn Paris on a touchdown pass and then Ply came up with the 85-yard sprint that sent the Cardinals into the postseason fray.