The Bridge City Cardinals got back to the basics Friday night at F.L. McClain Stadium and went back to riding the legs of quarterback Johnny Dishon.

In what was a close 7-6 game at the half, the Cardinals found ways to open up holes for Dishon and Cody Mills as Bridge City won Bayou Bowl VII 28-18 in front of a packed stadium.

The Cardinals (5-2, 3-1) kept their playoff hopes alive in District 21-3A with a key game against Kirbyville on the horizon next week, while the loss put a damper in Orangefield’s (3-4, 1-3) plans.

“That was a tough one,” said Orangefield coach Blake Morrison. “I feel for the kids the most because they fought so hard. We had opportunities but they did not go our way.”

While Orangefield had trouble with their opportunities, Bridge City took advantage of theirs in the second half as Dishon and Mills both started to warm up.

With the game close at 14-12 in favor of the Cardinals, Bridge City racked up 14 unanswered points to make the hill too tall for the Bobcats to climb.

The first dagger came with just under six minutes left in the game after the Cardinals marched 48 yards on 10 plays.

The scoring drive featured all Mills and Dishon as the two speedsters chewed up the yardage and clock. Dishon punched it into the endzone from a yard out giving him his third touchdown of the night. Guadalipe Estrada’s

extra point made it 21-12.

Mills had 18 yards on the drive on two rushes.

Mills then was the highlight of the Cardinals’ next series which started at the Orangefield 45 after Bridge City’s Logan Stewart came up with a key sack on fourth down.

“Our defense played a great game with a lot of hustle and they got after it,” said Bridge City coach Claude Tarver. “This was a great district win for us and now sets up a chance for our playoff push.”

Mills took the first snap down to the 1-yard line before two false starts backed the Redbirds up to the 11.

Dishon then ran for nine yards and Mills then did the rest after his second effort was enough for the score. The extra point made it 28-12.

On the Cardinals’ first series of the second half that started on their own 38, they marched all the way in on just four plays.