Bridgeport freshman Gabe Huerta caught a screen pass with 5:24 left Friday night and raced 92-yards for a touchdown. Huerta's score provided the difference in a 28-21 Bridgeport victory over the Iowa Park Hawks at Bull Memorial Stadium.
The win moves the Bulls to 2-0 atop the league and closer to clinching a playoff spot.
"District time is all about wins and losses," said Bridgeport coach Danny Henson. "Tonight we played one of the better teams, if not the best team, and got a win. It's huge and puts us in good position for a playoff spot."
Both teams had their troubles containing the other. The two offenses combined for 827 yards. Bridgeport tallied 421, including 269 through the air. Quarterback Cody Henson completed 15 of his 32 attempts with three scores and an interception.
Bridgeport had its trouble trying to slow Iowa Park's Lee Clubb, who rushed for 214 yards and three scores. Iowa Park rushed for a total of 330 yards.
It was a defensive play that allowed Bridgeport to get the upper hand in the second half. With the game tied at 14, Bridgeport's Daniel Scott recovered a fumble at the 27-yard line. Bridgeport capitalized on the turnover driving 68 yards in nine plays. A scrambling Henson hit Dustin Green for the final eight yards, giving Bridgeport a 21-14 lead.
Bridgeport held the seven-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter when Kevin Coan intercepted Iowa Park quarterback Connor Brown at the 5 yard line to end a threat.
After Coan's interception, Bridgeport was backed up to its 8-yard line for a first-and-18 . Needing a play to create some room, Henson hit Huerta on a screen pass with blockers in front of him. The freshman took the pass untouched to the end zone, giving Bridgeport a 28-14 lead.
"We had to have that," said coach Henson. "We had to get out of a hole. To take it and score was huge. We needed every point."
Huerta's play awed his older teammates.
"He's as fast as lightning," said Bridgeport senior Jordan Daniel.
Bridgeport needed Huerta's play because Iowa Park and Clubb answered immediately. Clubb scored on a 62-yard run just more than a minute later to bring Iowa Park back to within seven, 28-21 with 4:11 to play.
The Bridgeport offense was able to run out most of the clock after picking up two first downs. Iowa Park got the ball back in the final 20 seconds for two plays. Bridgeport's Blake Waldrep intercepted the ball on the final play to seal the win.
"This is huge for us," Daniel said. "It gets us to 2-0. We keep improving each week."
Both teams went back and forth in the first half.
Bridgeport drove 80 yards on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Cody Henson hit Daniel with an 8-yard touchdown to cap the drive.
Iowa Park answered late in the first half with Club running 19 yards around the end to tie the game at 7.
Bridgeport regained the lead early in the second quarter, taking advantage of the short field created by the defense making a fourth-down stop at its 49-yard line. Bridgeport took just eight plays to cover the 51 yards. Henson connected with Daniel from 11 yards out for the duo's second touchdown of the half.
"This is the best [connection] we've had," Daniel said.
Bridgeport's 14-7 lead lasted only three plays. Clubb dashed around the end for a 76-yard run to tie the score at 14.
Iowa Park had a chance to take a lead into halftime, driving 58 yards after a Kris Tucker interception of Henson. The Bridgeport defense stopped Iowa Park, coming through with its second fourth-down stop of the half. Bridgeport's Dalton Bracken brought down Iowa Park's Richard Smoak at the 10-yard line to end the threat.
