BRIGHTON – It has been a rocky start to the Brighton football team’s season, but the Bulldogs couldn’t have planned a more perfect time to pick up their first win of the season.

Brighton rolled past rival Prairie View 34-14 to win the Superintendent’s Cup to get in the win column. But what excited Brighton football coach Michael Brown the most was how much his team has grown through the first six weeks of this season.

“We have come a long way,” Brown said. “We made some mistakes (Friday), but unlike previous weeks we didn’t let it steamroll us like it has in the past. Tasting this victory will hopefully help us in the coming weeks.”

The rivalry also gave the Bulldogs some extra momentum Sept. 30, and they showed it as soon as they got the ball -- finding holes, fighting for extra yards and just playing hungry for the victory.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of this (rivalry),” said Brighton junior Kevin Day, who had two touchdowns in the contest. “Feels great to get the win. We were ready to play, we could have come out at 6 and played the same way.”

After the ThunderHawks went three-and-out on their opening possession, Brighton’s Ivan Ramirez returned a punt to Prairie View’s 4-yard line to set up a Jeremiah Ramos touchdown three minutes into the contest.

The Bulldogs added another score after Ramos broke loose for a 36-yard run. Two plays later Day capped the drive with a touchdown to give Brighton a two-touchdown lead.

Prairie View (2-4 overall) answered back late in the first quarter. Colton Lance found a hole on third down to gain 25 yards. Two plays later, Kunio Eshimo and Ondray Reed connected on an 8-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 14-7.

Brighton added another score in the second half when Izaiah Schoepp found the back of the end zone on the opening possession of the half. Eshimo led the ThunderHawks right back. He connected with Quintin Winzent for a 40-yard gain and again for 29 yards, and Lance found paydirt to cut the lead to six and give Prairie View the momentum.

However, Day returned a punt 72 yards up the Prairie View sidelines for a touchdown to seal the victory. Jordan Leete added another touchdown for Brighton late in the contest.

“I was proud of our kids. They hung in there,” Prairie View coach Tim Cardenas said. “We had it down to a one-score game and gave up that punt return, and that took the air out of our sails.”

Cardenas said after the contest he is going to emphasis his players staying focused, an issue that hurt them with penalties and missed tackles in the contest.

“We didn’t control the field, and we have a lot of growing up to do,” the coach said.

Prairie View will look to right the ship on Friday when it visits Legacy at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, at Mountain Range High School, while Brighton will look to extend its winning streak with a contest at Mullen at 6 p.m. Oct. 7.