KILGORE-BRIDGE CITY! | Bulldogs rout Bridge City; these were updates as playoff game happened live at New Caney
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mitch Lucas was live at Kilgore High School’s 4A, Division I third-round playoff game against Bridge City, at New Caney ISD / Randall Reed Stadium in Porter, in the Houston area. Kilgore’s Bulldogs won the third-round game in a shutout, 34-0, and updated other ETBlitz-area playoff games as they happened. We’ll be back tonight and Saturday to update all sorts of scores throughout and across the ETBlitz coverage area.
We’re about to kick off! Let’s go 7-0 today! Let’s go!!
Both of these teams, both Kilgore and Bridge City, are 11-1. Let’s see what happens. Bridge City just took the field, out of a giant, inflatable Cardinal, and Kilgore,wearing white with white pants and the trademark red helmets with the iconic white ‘K,” just took the field, as well.
We’ll do the National Anthem, and likely kick off right at 2 p.m. LET’S GO!!!
National Anthem over!
Dre’ Sanders, David McGowan, Brayden Williams, and Kayson Brooks were the captains for the Kilgore Bulldogs for the coin toss. Bridge City won the toss, and it appeared the Cardinals won the toss and deferred to the second half. Kilgore will get the ball first. We think. I’d almost be willing to bet it’ll be some weird kick.
T.K. White gets to his own 18-yard-line on the return, a 10-yard return to open the game. The Bulldogs begin their first possession with 11:54 in the first quarter. Brooks, the most decorated quarterback in Kilgore High School history, hands off to Rayshaun Williams, a 7-yard gain to the KHS 25-yard-line. Second and 3 coming up.
Brooks gets it to Tyler Johnigan for 6 yards and a first down, a new set of downs to the 31.
The two connect again for 3 yards to the 34 on the next play.
Hunter Whipkey, Jaden Pastor, Daniel Garcia, Jonathan Barron, and Fabian Abeldano are the starters along the offensive line, and after a false start, Brooks gets the ball to Williams. Kilgore is in third and short. He finds Johnigan yet again, his third catch of the game, and it’s another first down, this time to the Kilgore 48-yard-line.
Brooks has all day, and Sanders is all the way down to the Cardinals’ 28-yard-line, a 24-yard pass play and another set of downs.
Ja’Kalen Sheffield makes a huge play, a catch from Brooks and gets free all the way down to the Bridge City 4, another 24-yard gain. He’s knocked out of bounds to save the touchdown.
A first-and-goal at the 4, and Isaiah Watters is stopped at the 1 by the Bridge City defensive front, a 3-yard gain.
Watters remains in the backfield, and he doesn’t get the call: Brooks does, but it’s no gain. Kilgore’s at the 1-yard-line still.
It’s third-and-goal at the 1. The ball is snapped and he hands it to Watters. TOUCHDOWN, KILGORE, a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:51 left in the quarter. Eddie Jiminez comes in, hits the first extra point of the day, and Kilgore leads 7-0 in this third round playoff.
Kilgore recovered a Bridge City fumble on Bridge City’s very first offensive play of the game, and the Bulldogs are driving again. Rayshaun Williams is down at the Cardinals’ 12-yard-line, with just around the four-minute mark of the first quarter. A pass to Lakeyleon Graves puts Kilgore with a second-and-3 inside BC’s 5-yard-line.
Brooks hands off to Williams for a TOUCHDOWN, KILGORE, a 5-yard score with 3:24 left in the first quarter after the Cardinals fumbled on their first play from scrimmage. Jiminez hits the point after and the Ragin’ Red lead, 14-0! WOW!
Bridge City just converted, a big pass to Luke Nelson at the Cardinals’ own 23-yard-line, but then lost a yard on first down. The Cardinals are in second-and-11 at their own 23, as the quarter wins down.
Kilgore’s Zarak Hall tackles the Bridge City receiver for a loss of 8 more, and BC is in third and 20 at its own 14. And this quarterback Keagan Trahan, is all OVER the place. Andre the Giant, if he were still alive and actually athletic, couldn’t have caught that ball. And he was 7-feet-4.
It’s fourth down, and it’s a punt. There’s no return, and the ball is out of bounds. Kilgore takes over at its own 49, and with eight seconds left in the first quarter, the Ragin’ Red takes over right there.
It’s a false start on Kilgore, though, and they’ll move them back 5 yards. Kilgore now is in first and 15 at its own 44-yard-line. It’s a shovel pass to T.K. White, and he’ll get 5 out of it, back to the original line of scrimmage.
Brooks scrambles for 2 yards, and then on third and 8, at the 50, he overthrows Johnigan. Bridge City caught a massive break on that one.
And so far today, that’s about the ONLY thing Bridge City can catch.
Watters can catch, though, and does, an interception for Kilgore, a second turnover of the day for the Bulldogs. Watters’ interception gives Kilgore the ball at the Bridge City 21 with 9:21 left in the half.
Kilgore is already leading 14-0.
Brooks tries to hit Johnigan in the end zone, but they can’t connect.
The Bulldogs are in third and 5 from the 16.
It’s fourth and 1 at the 12. Watters kind of ran east-to-west instead of north-to-south, and got it, but it was AWFULLY close. He was at the 11. On first and 10, Watters picked up 2, and then on second down, Brooks to Graves for an 8-yard TOUCHDOWN, KILGORE, with 6:34 left in the half. Jiminez just kicked his third extra point of the day and Bridge City, you’re in massive trouble. MASSIVE trouble.
Kind of like before the New England Patriots were good, and Denver was REALLY good. Imagine if Shannon Sharpe played for Kilgore today.
Brooks and Sheffield just connected on a pass at Bridge City’s 17-yard-line, a 46-yard pass play, with 2 1/2 minutes left to play in the half.
Williams takes the handoff and goes to his left, to the 11-yard-line.
But the drive stalls, and Jiminez is lining up to kick a field goal from the 16-yard-line, a 35-yard field goal. There’s a time-out, with exactly a minute left in the half.
Kilgore changed its decision and they went for the first down instead, but Brooks was incomplete to Sheffield in the end zone.
His pass was incomplete, giving Bridge City the ball at its own 16, with under a minute left.
But on first down, Kilgore’s Bi’Syn Williams surprised Keagan Trahan from behind, a SACK, a loss of 7 yards, putting Bridge City in a second and 20. Kilgore took a time-out, and then on second and extremely long, an incomplete pass over the middle.
On third down, KHS defensive lineman Cameron Christian grabs the running back and corrals him to the ground.
Kilgore gets its third time out, and Bridge City punts from deep in its own end zone. Kilgore will get the ball at the Bridge City 26 with 18 seconds left. The Bulldogs have no time outs.
They just left Graves W I D E O P E N on the sidelines. Graves could have eaten a T-bone standing over there. He makes the catch and gets out of bounds. There’s a time out, and Jiminez hits a 24-yard field goal as time in the half expires. Kilgore leads Bridge City, 24-0, at halftime.
My goodness, my goodness.
I don’t want to talk bad about anybody.
How in THE WORLD is this team 11-1?
How?
Kilgore leads 24-0 at the half, and shortly, we’ll update scores around the ETBlitz.com area, and East Texas playoff scores.
So at the half, Kilgore leads Bridge City, 24-0.
Mount Enterprise leads Overton, 58-24, with 11:51 left in the fourth quarter in Henderson.
In somewhat of a shocker, Pleasant Grove leads Carthage, 17-7, with 8:07 left in the half.
In the other games still to come, Troup and Newton play tonight at Crockett; Arp and Edgewood play tonight in Van; Pine Tree faces Fort Bend Crawford tonight at Groesbeck; and Beckville faces San Augustine shortly in Tyler.
While I’ve been typing all of those scores, Kilgore and Bridge City have been playing a very uneventful third quarter and 3,543 people have been asking me questions here in the press box, questions that don’t add up to a hill of beans worth of anything.
Ever get any of those questions?
At any rate, there’s 8:26 left in the third quarter, and Kilgore leads Bridge City, 24-0.
Dre’ Sanders just caught a pass at midfield, but with no one open on back-to-back downs, it’s fourth down for Kilgore at midfield, and the Bulldogs punt. The ball hit a Bridge City player — that’s a live ball. David McGowan recovers it at BC’s 30. A quick pass to Graves gets 7 yards, and now a hand-off to Williams gets a first down.
The Bulldogs have a first down at Bridge City’s 16-yard-line.
This is just a mess. But Jiminez hits a 22-yard field goal, and puts Kilgore in front, 27-0, with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
With 1:46 left in the third quarter, Ethan Hernandez picks off a Kayson Brooks pass to give Bridge City the ball near midfield.
Luke Nelson gets a 10-yard catch to Kilgore’s 41-yard-line, as the third-quarter clock is winding down.
Just as Kilgore looked like it might have been on its heels for just a moment, and Bridge City was moving the ball, a Cardinals’ fumble, and McGowan — a turnover machine (in a good way) the last few weeks — falls on it. Kilgore gets it at its own 36, with 11:52 left on the first play of the fourth quarter.
On a run by Williams, the Cardinals’ defensive front drives Williams back 10 yards. There’s no flag. But there is a flag on the next play for roughing the passer on Bryce Breeden. Breeden didn’t let up and bulldogged Brooks after the play was over. The penalty, combined with the play, set Kilgore up with a first down all the way down to the Bridge City 39-yard-line.
Watters scored on the next play, a 34-yard TOUCHDOWN, KILGORE, a running play, with 8:43 left in the game.
Kaeson Clayton intercepted Trahan with 7:08 left in the game, at Kilgore’s 20 with no return to speak of. The Bulldogs have controlled this game from the outset. Bridge City may have been 11-1 coming in, and they’re going to finish with an 11-2 record. But any insinuation that Kilgore and Bridge City are any kind of equal is outlandish, and that has been evident all day. There is NOTHING equal between Kilgore and Bridge City.
The Bulldogs, leading 34-0, take a time-out with 4:29 left in the game.
Ja’Kalen Sheffield picked off a deflected pass and intercepts the ball with 3:35 left in the game.
Maddox Wright comes in at Kilgore’s own 36 and reels off a 7-yard run immediately on first down.
On second down, he gets 3 yards, and then after an injury, Wright takes another hand-off, and looks to have ran off enough clock to get to the two-minute time-out.
They do, and reality sets in for Bridge City that it’s loser-leaves-town time, and they’re the losers — not only are they leaving town, but the season is over. And that is a hard pill to swallow.
And it’s that time. “Dandy” Don Meredith, take us out.
Congratulations to the Kilgore Bulldogs, a 34-0 winner over Bridge City. Kilgore (12-1) now awaits the winner of tonight’s game between Pine Tree and Fort Bend Crawford to find out who they’ll face in round four.
We’ll have some scores shortly, and then more scores and more coverage later on ETBlitz.com.
Some score updates:
Carthage has gotten in front of Pleasant Grove in their 4A-DII game in McKinney, and the score is Carthage 27-20, with 7:40 left in the fourth. Don’t shoot the messenger; that’s what my update says.
Earlier today, Overton faced Mount Enterprise at Henderson ISD Lions Stadium, a rematch of two district rivals. The Mustangs, we’re told, dropped that contest, unfortunately, by a final of 74-46.
There are four more programs yet to play that ETBlitz.com covers. Beckville is about to kick off in the 2A-Division I playoffs at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler against San Augustine, a game that starts at 5 p.m.
Pine Tree faces Fort Bend Crawford at 7 p.m. at Groesbeck ISD Stadium; the winner will face Kilgore in round four next week in the 4A-DI playoffs.
Troup meets Newton at Crockett ISD’s Driskell Stadium at 7 p.m. in 3A-DII’s postseason, and Arp is also in the 3A-DII playoffs. Arp faces Edgewood, with the winner to meet either Troup or Newton next weekend.
Of course, we’ll be back later for stories on everyone. Happy for Kilgore that the Ragin’ Red is moving on; hate for Overton that they’re not. and let’s get everyone else into round four!
