Bridge City, welcome back to the postseason! It’s been eight seasons since the Cardinals have been practicing in mid-November. After an 8-2 regular season, those two losses coming by a total of 11 points, BC will travel to Longview to face the Pine Tree Pirates.
Why are they playing 3.5 hours away in Pirateland? The two districts (9 & 10) agreed before the season that the top two teams from each district would host the first round game. The Cards are a three seed so they’ll take the charters north.
So what do we know about Pine Tree? They’re a school that has dropped down from 5A this year. Their season is similar to Bridge City in that they have exceeded what was predicted. The Pirates (9-1) to the districts number one seed, Kilgore 17-6. They also have a non-district win over Gilmer.
Both teams also sport great defenses. BC carries the top defense in the district and Pine Tree is only giving up 7.6 points per game.
What does Coach Josh Smalley think of the Pirates? “They’re big. Both of their offensive and defensive lines will be the biggest we’ve seen.”
Offensively they have several weapons, lead by their veteran quarterback MJ Cates. Cates didn’t play in last weeks game after suffering an injury the week before. Smalley said they expect to see Cates but won’t know until game day. If he’s not available, Parker Johnson is expected under center.
Smalley said the Pirates playmaker is Jordan Taylor (#10) and he’s complimented by several others including running backs Dylan Montgomery (17) and LMarion Hunter (24). Defensively they run a three and a four man front. Smalley mentioned Treavon Rougely as the best nose guard he’s seen this season and also lineman Peyton Davis who will go both ways.
The Cards have been solid on defense all season led by super sophomore Bryce Breeden and junior Koby Dean. They were the only defense in the district giving up less than 200 yds. a game.
Offensively QB Hutch Bearden has been solid all season with his arm and his feet. And Smalley said last week against Huffman, he really showed his toughness. “The guy’s a warrior. He got pushed around but he played hard till the end.” Abraham Munguia has been his main target while Austin Bellanger is right there with him and he’s guaranteed to make at least one “OMG” catch a game. Running back Ashton Sumrall has been consistent all season with 1300 yds. on the season and 11 scores.
The Cardinals have had a dream season already and they’re not ready to wake up. “Most teams have been bigger than us,” Smalley said. “But these kids aren’t afraid. We will compete and we’ll leave it all on the field and hopefully I’ll be talking to you again about next weeks opponent.”
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