Facing adversity and trailing for the first time this season in the fourth quarter, the question according to Bridgeport quarterback Gordon Swiger was a simple one.

 

“Would we win? I didn’t know if we would, but being involved with Bridgeport football I knew we had a chance and we could win,” said Swiger. “Once we got going, I didn’t have a doubt.”

 

Those doubting didn’t know what Swiger had in store. The senior quarterback helped the Class AA No. 1 Indians rally from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to take a 24-13 win over No. 10 Keyser

 

The win kept Bridgeport unbeaten at 9-0. The Golden Tornado falls to 5-3.

 

“We didn’t give up,” said BHS Coach Josh Nicewarner. “It was not a great football game that we played because a lot of the adversity that we faced (including 84 yards in penalties) we created ourselves. People have to understand, though, we played a good football team tonight. If anyone thinks we’re going to shut everyone down, they’re crazy … You create problems for yourselves like we did tonight, and I’ve never been part of something that bad, against a good team then you’re going to find yourself in trouble.

 

“The response to the adversity late was everything,” the coach continued. “I’ve talked about being a contender or a pretender and for about three quarters we looked like pretenders. What I liked is that in the end we just didn’t panic offensively and defensively and pulled it out. We had faith in ourselves and that speaks volumes.”

 

BHS had many reasons for the win, including excellent field position, but it’s hard to argue that the play of Swiger wasn’t largely responsible for it. Swiger finished the game with 116 yards rushing – nearly 90 in the final period – on 16 carries. More importantly, he scored all three of Bridgeport’s touchdowns in the last 12 minutes of play.

 

“We decided to run Gordon because everything was quick. When you've got everyone in the box like that you need the quick hitters. That’s the one thing we miss with our old stick-I is that we don’t have the quick plays because of the angles you get from the shot gun,” said Nicewarner. “ … Gordon made some great cuts and finally started to see the plays opening up.”

 

Bridgeport was down 13-3 at the start of the fourth period and, showing little signs of life with its offense, a comeback seemed unlikely. Then, the winds of fortune on this rainy evening began to swing in Bridgeport’s favor.

 

A disastrous eight-yard punt late in the third period gave Bridgeport the ball at the KHS 31-yard line. Five plays later, the Indians strung together their best offensive punch of the night capped by Swiger’s one-yard run with 11:33 to play and Koby Kiefer’s point-after kick made it 13-10. Suddenly the Indians had new life.

 

On the next series for Keyser, things went from bad to worse in short order. KHS’s starting quarterback and leading tackler Brady Ours was hit in the backfield and went down. Unfortunately for the standout who had played a spectacular game to that point, he had to be carried off the field and didn’t return.

 

The momentum, which had already switched to the Bridgeport ledger, jumped another notch after the Tribe’s defense forced another quick three-and-out. And had been the theme throughout, the Indians got good field position – this time at their own 48.

 

The once dormant offense had new life and needed just seven plays to go 52 yards and go ahead with 7:01 to play. Swiger did the honors with an 18-yard keeper where he jetted to the right and simply outraced and outfought the Keyser defenders to the goal line.

 

The only down point of the drive was a bad snap on the point after, which left BHS up 16-13. However, it would prove to be more than enough.

 

Keyser’s next series ended like the previous one – three quick plays and the need to punt with under six minutes to go as going for it on fourth-and-seven from its own 19 was too much of a risk.

 

Unfortunately for the hosts, continual good field position resulted in ongoing bad news for the Golden Tornado. This time, Bridgeport started at the KHS 49-yard line and simply gouged its foe on the ground. The Indians needed just seven plays – five runs by Swiger and two by J.T. Harris – to cover the distance and convert for the game-clinching score.

 

Not surprisingly, Swiger did the honors with a three-yard run on first and goal after keeping it for 22 yards on the previous play. Swiger then added the two-point conversion run for the game’s final points as 2:23 showed on the Mineral County clock.

 

“This was a good return team both on punts and kickoffs and Koby’s play and our special teams play kept them in check,” said Nicewarner. “Plus, we kept them pinned for the most part and seemed to have field position all night. We seem to talk about it after every game and as long as we keep winning field position we’ll have a chance to win games.”

 

BHS would finish with 199 yards of offense – more than 100 of which came in the final quarter. Along with Swiger, Harris finished with 75 yards on 14 carries.

 

Keyser ended the game with 252 yards of offense. Ours finished five-of-seven passing for 101 yards, while Deaventa Johnson led the team in rushing with 68 yards on nine carries.

 

Those numbers had Bridgeport appearing dead in the water after the start of the third period. The Golden Tornado got the ball at their own five and went on a 17-play, 95-yard drive that ate up 7:26 of the clock and culminated with an Ours one-yard touchdown run with 4:34 to play. The successful point-after kick made it 13-3 KHS and seemed to be a death blow until the Indians’ lethargic offense sprang to life.

 

Getting the win after that drive seemed improbable. Things also weren’t looking good for the Tribe after a disastrous first half.

 

Early on, it was clear that getting yards was going to be at a premium and both teams’ defenses had plenty to do with it. The defense would be critical for the hosts as the Indians had great field position throughout the opening period.

 

BHS started its opening drive at its own 49 before a fumble ended any hopes of early momentum.  The second drive also began at the 49 after Andrew Barker pushed his defender into the punter and Chapin Murphy pounced on the pigskin to give the Tribe the momentum right back.

 

The momentum wouldn’t last as the Golden Tornado forced a three-and-out. On this particular play, Koby Kiefer’s punt and a penalty on the return would set up the hosts at their own four-yard line. Bridgeport’s defense was up to the task and a quick punt later gave Bridgeport the ball at the KHS 43.

 

This time, Bridgeport would take advantage of it. However, even these points wouldn’t come easy in a first half where everything proved difficult.

 

The Tribe, who ended up getting their initial first down on the drive, would use 10 plays to get the ball to the Keyser 19-yard line before the drive stalled. Kiefer then came on to kick a 37-yard field goal to put Bridgeport up 3-0 with 12.5 seconds left in the first period.

 

Any hopes that Keyser would falter after the score were erased on the home team’s next drive. Starting at their own 29, the Golden Tornado turned what appeared to be a drive set to go nowhere into one that put them in front.

 

On a second-and-12 play, Ours took the shotgun snap, set up and found a streaking Cam White going down the left sideline. The pass hit White in stride and was good for 46 yards to the BHS 25.

 

Three plays later, facing a third-and-nine at the 24, Keyser did what few teams have done this year – and that was to burn the Indians on third and long. Ours took the snap and appeared to be looking to receiver to the left side when he let fly with another strike to White that covered the final 24 yards and put Keyser up 6-3.

 

KHS attempted a two-point conversion, but the Indians’ defense was up to the task as they sacked Ours for the 6-3 score. As it turned out, the touchdown that came at the 8:31 mark would be the last points of the half.

 

Outside of the scoring drive, Bridgeport’s defense yielded yardage but no points. Keyser finished the half with 158 yards, including Ours hitting on 4-of-6 passes for 83 yards and the team running the ball 22 times for 75 yards.

 

Johnson led the rushing attack with 43 yards on four carries.

 

BHS had a season-low output in the first half and Keyser’s defense had plenty to do with it. Bridgeport had 20 plays for 56 yards, including an uncharacteristic 16 carries for 56 yards. No runner for the Tribe had more than 29 yards.

 

The Tribe returns to action next Friday in one of the most anticipated matchups of the season. BHS will visit East-West Stadium to face Class AA No. 2, and 7-1, Fairmont Senior. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

 

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