The Orange Leader
HUFFMAN — How about those “Cardiac” Bridge City Cardinals?
Bridge City, perhaps, posted their most vital win of the season yet as the Cardinals went on the road and held off the Huffman Falcons 41-34 in a wild shootout in District 10-4A Division I play.
The Cardinals (6-2, 3-1) erased a 20-13 halftime deficit by scoring 28 points in the second half behind a bruising running game that was sparked by Cayce Draper, who went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season after he gutted the Falcons for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
Bridge City built a 41-27 lead in the fourth quarter and held off a late rally by the Falcons (5-3, 3-1) at the Cardinal 1.
The Cardinal win offset a superb performance by senior Huffman quarterback Cody Gaitan. Gaitan completed 29-of-42 passes for 407 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.Lane Shively hauled in 11 catches for 139 yards while Trey Lundy had seven receptions for 95 yards.
Cardinal quarterback Camden Dubois ran for 50 yards on nine carries and threw a touchdown pass. Hunter Denton added 103 yards on four rushesw for the Redbirds.
Huffman finished with 513 total yards while the Cardinals had 433.
The Cardinals will now face another big showdown next week when they host the Silsbee Tigers (6-2, 3-1). Bridge City, Silsbee and Huffman are all tied for second-place in the 10-4A standings, a game back of Jasper (5-3, 4-0).
Bridge City closes its season on the road at Splendora Nov. 6. Huffman still has to play Jasper and LC-M. Silsbee still has Bridge City and Jasper left.
The Falcons got to within 41-34 on a Gaitan’s fourth touchdown pass of the night.
Huffman promptly recovered the onside kick and moved the ball all the way down to the Cardinal 1 but Gaitan fumbled the snap and the Cardinals were able to run out the clock.
Justyn Romero ended the hopes of one Falcon drive when he picked off Gaitan in the end zone.
Byron Trahan, subbing for Dubois at quarterback, put the Cardinals on top 41-27 when he cut loose for a 35-yard touchdown scamper.
Huffman pulled to within 34-27 with 10:25 remaining in the game.
Draper kept pounding away when he put the Cardinals up 34-20 with a 35-yard touchdown dart near the end of the third quarter to wrap up a six-play, 76-yard touchdown march.
Denton gave the Cardinals a 27-20 advantage when the speedster broke free on a 70-yard touchdown gallop.
Dubois drew the Cardinals even in the third quarter, completing a eight-play, 67-yard drive by scoring from one yard out to make it 20-20.
Draper put the Cardinals on top early, completing a five-play, 71-yard scoring march to give the Cardinals a 7-0 edge in the first quarter.
Huffman answered with a 10-play, 64-yard scoring march to tie it up at 7-7 and then went ahead 13-7.
The Falcons were able to take a 20-7 advantage with 2:42 left in the half but the Cardinals trimmed it to 20-13 with less than 20 seconds remaining.
The Falcons outgained the Redbirds 316-159 in the first 24 minutes but Bridge City unleashed its mean running game in the second half.