District started last week for Bridge City. The good news is the Cardinals came out of the game healthy. The bad news is they left the ball on the ground seven times losing three of them in the first half. That really was the difference according to Coach Allen DeShazo who added Bridge City needs to do a better job of hanging onto the football. He thought the defense played well and had three takeaways from Little Cypress-Mauriceville. DeShazo explained, “We kind of put ourselves in a serious bind by having to defend a short field and defending a lot of plays.”
This Friday night the Cardinals travel to Huffman. DeShazo breaks down a dangerous Falcon offense. The Huffman Spread is very potent with the pass or on the ground. “They are just a really balanced, really well coached team, and it’s going to be a real challenge,” DeShazo advised.
The leader on offense is quarterback Justin Shively who threw for over 1200 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. DeShazo said Shively does a great job of handling the Spread and reading opposing defenses. He finds the open receiver, and the Falcons lineman keep him free to look downfield. Defenses cannot afford to key too much on Shively because he will give the ball to the Falcons’ running back to pickup good yardage. Aaron Johnson is the leading receiver for Huffman with good support from Garrett Hallbrooks.
On defense Coach DeShazo said Huffman is very aggressive seeking to trap the ball carrier in the backfield. The Falcons lineup in an even front on defense. They are an attacking defensive unit. DeShazo informed, “We’ll try to get some stuff in to counteract that, but we’ve got to do a really good job up front to try to keep them at bay.”
The Falcons’ defense is led by linebacker Drew Higgins. Defensive end Caleb Tiffin is an example of the aggressive Huffman defense with four and a half sacks. Peyton Pierson at strong safety is the leader in the secondary.
This Friday night is the second game of the district schedule and an opportunity for Bridge City to even its district record. In fact, both teams lost their district openers as Huffman fell in overtime to Lumberton last week.
DeShazo provided the ingredients for the Cardinals to get a victory against a very good Huffman team. Keeping control of the ball and eliminating silly mistakes that were evident last week against LC-M is vitally important for Bridge City. The coach stated the team’s tackling is improving each week and must continue to do so. “Keep our kicking game coming where it is, we’re kicking the ball really well right now,” DeShazo praised.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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