The Bridge City football team was firing on all cylinders Friday night as the Cardinals pummeled the Tarkington Longhorns 48-0 at Larry Ward Stadium in Bridge City.
By land or air, the Cardinals offense seemed to have its way with the Longhorns defense as Bridge City churned out 388 total yards for the night, while limiting Tarkington to just 80 total yards, and 66 of those yards came in the final minute.
Cardinals quarterback Ethan Ocegeura was in total command of the offense Friday night as he helped Bridge City jump out to a quick 13-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Ocegeura scrambled for a 15-yard touchdown on the Cardinals first drive for a 7-0 lead, which was followed by a 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Braylen Edwards on the next possession.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as Ocegeura scored on a 6-yard run through the Tarkington defense before connecting with receiver Kyler Garlaska on a 28-yard strike on fourth down and 12 for a 27-0 halftime lead.
The Cardinals defense kept the Longhorns on their heels the entire game, but especially in the first half as Tarkington had -1 total yards at the break.
Bridge City opened the second half with a 10-play, 58-yard drive which saw running back Davien Edwards score on a 1-yard run. The defense forced a turnover on downs after the snap sailed over the Tarkington punter’s head and gave the Cardinals the ball at the Longhorns 3-yard line. On the Cardinals first play, running back JS Bearden bulled through the Tarkington defense for another Bridge City touchdown to make the score 41-0 near the end of the third quarter.
The game went to a running clock at this point, but Tarkington found yards hard to come by still as a turnover on downs and a fumble on their next two possessions stymied any hope.
Backup quarterback Justin Abate took control of the Cardinals offense late in the third quarter and for the rest of the game. He connected with receiver Joey Murty on a big 40-yard completion to the Tarkington 24-yard line, but the drive stalled out shortly after.
On the Cardinals next possession in the fourth quarter, it was running back Mason Pruitt who provided the explosive plays with a 19-yard scamper to the Tarkington 21 yard line. Two plays later Pruitt scored from 15-yards out to put Bridge City up 48-0.
Tarkington kept fighting to the end and running back Brandon Pitty nearly put the Longhorns on the board with a 66-yard bolt right up the middle before being dragged down at the Cardinals 1-yard line with 49 seconds remaining in the game.
However, Tarkington was flagged for an unsportmanline penalty on its sideline and the ball was moved back to the 16-yard line. The game ended with Longhorns quarterback Stephen Pavlat being dragged down at the 2-yard line thus preserving the shut out.
The Bridge City Cardinals (2-0) will host the Huffman Hargrave Falcons (2-0) next Friday, which defeated Concordia Lutheran 49-0 on Friday night. Tarkington (0-2) will be on the road to face the Trinity Tigers (0-1) next week.
TARKINGTON 0
BRIDGE CITY 48
Tarkington 0 0 0 0 0
Bridge City 13 14 14 7 48
SCORING SUMMARY
BC — Ethan Ocegeura 15 yard run, Victor Hernandez kick (6:04)
BC — Braylen Collins 21 yard pass from Ocegeura, kick failed (1:51)
BC — Ocegeura 6 yard run, Hernandez kick (5:42)
BC — Kyler Garlaska 28 yard pass from Ocegeura, Hernandez kick (1:06)
BC — Davien Edwards 1 yard run, Hernandez kick (7:40)
BC — JS Bearden 3 yard run, Hernandez kick (5:20)
BC — Mason Pruitt 15 yard run, Hernandez kick (2:55)
Tark BC
First Downs 2 24
Rushes-Yards 22-42 38-247
Passing 38 141
Total Yards 80 388
Com-Att-Int 2-13-1 10-19-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-Yards 7-59 6-55
Individual Stats
Rushing – Tark: Brandon Pitty 3-72, Kevin McCarther 4-5, Drendal Kanada 9-1, Aaron Couhig 1-(-3), Stephen Pavlat 5-(-13), Team 1-(-20); BC: Davien Edwards 20-116, Ethan Ocegeura 8-77, Mason Pruitt 2-34, JS Bearden 3-8, Kyler Garlaska 1-8, Justin Abate 4-4;
Passing – Tark: Stephen Pavlat 2-9-0 38, Kevin McCarther 0-4-1 00; BC: Ethan Ocegeura 9-16-0 101, Justin Abate 1-3-0 40;
Receiving – Tark: Eniseli Ma’Alaelu 1-20, Drendal Kanada 1-18; BC: Joey Murty 2-53, Kyler Garlaska 3-41, Braylen Collins 3-40, JT Fielder 2-7;
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