Bobcats win tight fight with Falcons
The Superior Bobcats are on a roll, just ask the Twin Bridges Falcons.
In an upset of a game that went into overtime, the Bobcats overcame the powerhouse Falcons on their home turf Friday night.
“We stepped up and beat a tremendous team on their home field. We also had to travel five hours to do it,” said Bobcats Head Coach Dan Lucier.
The first quarter of the game started off with the Bobcats proving that they could hold their own against the previously undefeated Falcons. The Falcons scored the first touchdown of the game a little more than one minute into the first quarter when Falcon Clay Pierson caught a 38-yard pass from Falcon Jake Schmidt.
However, the Bobcats answered right back with a touchdown of their own less than a minute later with Drew Walen catching a 59-yard pass from Travis Stroot.
Each team went on to score another touchdown in the first quarter, and they headed into the second quarter tied 13 to 13.
“It was a great, great, great team effort,” Lucier said.
In the second quarter the Falcons played strong, scoring three touchdowns and running in two two-point conversions. Not to be stopped for an entire quarter, Walen pushed through for a touchdown with 45 seconds left in the quarter and Tyler Stenberg picked up a pass from Stroot to nab the Bobcats two more points on the touchdown.
The Falcons struck first in the third quarter, scoring a touchdown when Pierson caught a 20-yard pass from Schmidt with less than six minutes to go in the quarter and Clark Vial ran the ball in for two points on the touchdown. With more than three minutes left to go in the quarter Walen ran in another touchdown and Yim Sribenjakul made a successful kick, keeping the Bobcats in the game.
The Bobcats kicked their game up a notch in the fourth quarter and prevented the Falcons from scoring a single touchdown. The Bobcats also scored another touchdown with more than six minutes to go in the quarter when Stenberg caught a 20-yard pass from Stroot, putting the Bobcats behind 35 to 43.
“As the game went on we got stronger and stronger,” Lucier said.
Eric Steinbach made the game-changing play when he intercepted a Falcons pass with less than two minutes in the quarter, allowing the Bobcats to drive in a touchdown with a 30-yard pass from Stroot to Walen. Stroot then ran the ball in for the two-point conversion the Bobcats needed to send the game into overtime.
“Everybody played hard, everybody made big plays like we had to do and it was just awesome,” Lucier said.
The Falcons failed to score on their possession in overtime and Walen ran in the final Bobcats touchdown to seal their victory at 49 to 43.
“Twin Bridges is a good football team. They’re very powerful, big and strong. So our guys did a good job,” said Lucier.
The Bobcats have been doing a good job all season long. So far they are undefeated and several of their players are at the top of their game in Montana.
Stroot is the best player in the state so far this season for passing yards with 866 yards. His closest competition is Bryce Carver of Dillon with 613 yards. Stenberg is leading the state with receiving yards with 410 and his closest competition is Toby Shepard of Dillon with 283 yards. Right behind Shepard is Walen, holding third place for receiving yards with 262 yards. Walen is also the highest scorer in Montana with a record of 102 points so far this season; his closest competitor is Carver who has 51 points so far. Stenberg is tied with Tristan Costa from Hardin for the most sacks with 6. Rollin Rennick is in third place for most interceptions so far this year with three.
The Bobcats will defend their perfect record against the Victor Pirates for their homecoming game this Friday, and Lucier says he is sure it will be a challenging match.