LIBERTY — For the first time in the Cris Stump era, the Bridge City Cardinals were on the winning side of the scoreboard

Stump and the 2008 Cardinals proved to be the complete opposites of the 2007 edition with an opportunistic defense and a team not afraid of a challenge.

Bridge City picked up a 32-20 victory Friday over the Liberty Panthers at Panther Stadium with the help of six Panthers' turnovers.

Junior running back Joe Robertson and receiver Cory Moseley scored a pair of touchdowns for a Cardinals team which even came from behind in the fourth quarter.

"This sure beats losing," Stump said after the victory. "I told you earlier in the week this would be a dogfight and it was for all four quarters. I told (offensive coordinator Josh) Smalley that was the slowest clock ever in the fourth quarter. The whole deal was our kids confidence level was never in doubt. We were able to overcome a lot of obstacles."

One of the obstacles was staring down a 20-19 deficit with just over 11 minutes left in the game. It was the first time Bridge City trailed in the game.

The Cardinals did not let the Panthers lead bother them and responded with a quick, four-play scoring drive.

Two plays into the drive Robertson hauled in a 28-yard pass from junior quarterback Josh Lemoine who was starting his first varsity contest.

Lemoine then found Dustin Breaux for another 18 yards through the air.

Cory Moseley then hauled in his second touchdown of the game, this one from 21 yards out with 10:18 left in the contest.

A failed two point conversion made it 25-20.

The Cardinals were not satisfied as they forced a Liberty punt and then went on a mission to score again.

Lemoine had an 18-yard run on the next drive and four plays later found Jerry Landry for a 25-yard touchdown strike. A Devin Bertrand PAT made it 32-20 score with 4:33 left on the clock.

From there the Cardinals were able to hold off the Panthers and even got a strong final play, stuffing Panthers' running back JaMarcus Glenn at the Cardinals' 2 to end the game.

"This is amazing," Robertson said. "We all worked hard, even in the summer, and were ready. I knew we had the confidence and we have already been through the worst last season. This year we have confidence in our defense to make plays and keep us in games. We were able to put up some points and we came out on top."