It’s Bridgeport’s last go around in the Class AA playoffs. This afternoon, the Indians assured they would play as many games as possible on their home field.

 

The Tribe locked up yet another semifinal appearance in a battle with Mingo Central by taking a 28-8 win at Wayne Jamison Field.

 

With the victory, the Indians will face Oak Glenn – a 28-20 winner over Poca – next weekend. The trip to the semifinals is the ninth straight year for the Tribe.

 

Getting there wasn’t certain until the later stages of today’s ball game. In fact, the score that iced the game at the 6:57 mark of the fourth quarter after the Indians held Mingo Central on fourth down and took over at their own 41.

 

With the score 21-8, Bridgeport would quickly ice it. And the ice came courtesy of a stone-cold run by quarterback Devin Vandergrift, who had two scores on the game that didn’t feature a single pass by the Tribe. With a flotilla of blockers in front of him, Vandergrift exploded through the middle of the line and rambled 59 yards for the touchdown.

 

“Devin saw the field very well and he’s seeing it better than he’s seen it for a year and a half now” said Bridgeport Coach John Cole. “I’m happy for him because he’s a competitor and a senior that’s really stepping up here these last few games.”

 

The last of Austin Springer’s four successful point-after kicks made it 28-8. Mingo, who managed just one score despite being inside Bridgeport’s 50 on five different occasions, saw any remaining hopes of a win after that end on a Hayden Moore interception that he returned to the Tribe’s 31 late.

 

“We had a good sound game plan and the kids went out there and executed,” said Cole.

 

Bridgeport led 14-0 at the half and appeared ready to ice it in the third quarter. On their second possession of the second half, the Indians started at the Mingo 47 following another fourth down stop and made the most of it.

 

The Indians needed nine plays to go the distance and get sick. Carson Winkie, who had another monster outing, finished the surge with a two-yard run with 1:58 to go in the third quarter.

 

With the score 21-0 after the kick, Mingo looked dead in the water. The look, however, was deceiving.

 

Two plays after the Tribe’s third score, the Miners would get their first. Quarterback Daylin Goad, who appeared to play much of the second half with an injured shoulder, hooked up with Devin Hatfield on a wide receiver screen, shook free and went 58 yards for a touchdown. The subsequent two-point conversion pass made it 21-8 with 1:30 to go in the third.

 

The play put the Miners back in it, but it would only be temporary as Vandergrift’s fourth quarter run was too much to overcome.

 

Mingo Central finished with 278 yards of total offense with 254 of it through air as Goad completed 26-of-52 passes for 254 with one touchdown and two interceptions. Isa Scales caught 13 passes for 102 yards.

 

Outside of Goad’s nine carries for 13 yards, the rest of the team carried the ball four times. Bridgeport was able to do, for the most part, what it schemed to do. And that was to not allow the big play.

 

“The one play that they broke, well our kids were ready to play, and our defense was ready to play,” said BHS Coach John Cole. “We had to overcome a lot of things out there that we don’t usually have to overcome … Our coaches got them ready.”

 

BHS finished with 285 yards of offense – all of it coming on the ground. Winkie led the way with 114 yards on 27 carries with one score. Vandergrift with 108 yards on eight carries, while Trey Pancake chipped in 61 yards on 11 rushes of the ball.

 

“We had some trouble seeing where we needed to run a little bit and our offensive line was jumbled up a little bit at times,” said Cole. “We got it going in the second half and maybe wore them a little bit. Our kids played hard and hung in there.”

 

While the game didn’t end as Mingo Central would have liked, it started out in perfect fashion.

 

In fact, MCHS’s first offense drive was more than promising. The conclusion was more than disheartening.

 

After stuffing the Indians on a three-and-out on the first possession of the game, Mingo embarked on 14-play drive heavy on the pass that had Bridgeport out of sorts. The drive finally made it inside the Tribe 10 when the BHS defense stepped up and disaster appeared for the Miners in the form of Winkie.

 

On a fourth down play needing three yards for a first down and eight yards for a touchdown, Goad stepped up into the pocket looking for a slant that had worked before in the drive. On the play, Winkie stepped back into the route and picked the ball off at the three.

 

Winkie took off down the left sideline and the only Miner defender back to get him didn’t have enough gas to catch him. The senior went 97 yards for the score and Springer’s point-after kick made it 7-0 with 3 minutes showing on the first quarter clock.

 

“That was major. That was just huge,” said Cole of Winkie’s play. “That’s what we’ve done and that’s what we done over the years.”

 

BHS managed to get a three-and-out on Mingo Central’s next possession and immediately went to work. Starting at their own 44, Bridgeport would use a 12-play, 56-yard drive to get back into the end zone for six points.

 

Unfortunately for the Miners, it appeared they were in position to stop the Indians on the drive. BHS faced a third down and needed 11 yards at the Mingo 16.

 

Instead of a stop, the Indians got six points. Vandergrift kept the ball and weaved his way through the heart of the Miners’ defense and covered the distance needed for six. Springer’s kick made it 14-0 with 8:08 left before halftime.

 

That would be the final points of the half, but it wouldn’t be the last time the Miners would threaten to score. A pooch resulted in Goad returning it to just near the 50-yhard line after the Vandergrift score and MCHS was back in business.

 

Mingo managed to get the ball to the Tribe 28 with a first down when things went south. Instead of going further, a few passes off the mark and an offensive pass interference led to a fourth down punt by Goad from the 38 – and it worked.

 

The ball was downed inside the one-yard line as Mingo gambled hoping to the ball back in good field position. The gamble worked. Bridgeport only managed to get the ball to the five-yard line and had to punt.

 

With 4:17 left, MCHS got the ball back at the Bridgeport 33. This time, Mingo would get the ball all the way to the Bridgeport seven-yard line before things went sour.

 

On first and goal from the seven, Josh Wojciechowicz and Michael Watkins managed to get to the multi-talented Goad and bring him down at the 13. Mingo would eventually get it to fourth-and-goal at the eight, but a pass with less than 20 seconds to play was caught out of bounds and the Indians managed to dodge yet another bullet.

 

Goad was 18-of-26 for 114 yards with the one pick. The Miners had just 10 yards rushing. Isa Scales caught 10 passes for 72 yards in the first two quarters.

 

Incredibly, Bridgeport had just 61 yards of offense – all of it on the ground. Outside of the scoring drive, Bridgeport did not get a first down on their other two offensive series. They did have a fourth series, but that was the one play series where the Tribe took a knee to end the half.

 

“No,” said Cole when asked if he thought having 61 yards and being on the wrong of time of possession was something that he would have thought would have led to a two-touchdown advantage. “They put nine guys in there, and the lanes were clogged up and we didn’t see where we were supposed to run sometimes.”

 

The Indians are now 11-1. Mingo closes the year at 9-3.

 

Cole offered a thanks to those that not only attended the Saturday afternoon game, and those who stayed through the rain.

 

“I want to say how much our team appreciates the fans that showed up to watch them play today … I really want to thank them. They have no idea how much it means to us, especially when it did start raining.”

 

Editor's Note: Photos by Joey Signorellli of www.benqueenphotography.com.