Bobcats come out on top

The Superior Bobcats Varsity Football team came out on top in a tough game against the Alberton Panthers Friday night.

“We played pretty tough and they’re a good football team,” said Bobcats’ Head coach Dan Lucier.

The Bobcats scored the first touchdown of the game with senior Tyler Stenberg running it in. Senior Yim Sribenjakul made the kick and sealed the Bobcats’ 7-0 lead with less than eight minutes to go in the first quarter.

During the scuffle after Sribenjakul’s next kick to Alberton, senior Bobcat Drew Walen lost his shoe rushing down the field.

The Panthers then made a valiant effort to push the ball down-field but the Bobcats’ tough defense forced the Panthers back to the first yard-line, where the Bobcats recovered a Panthers fumble.

Walen then redeemed himself for the lost shoe fiasco by pushing through the Alberton defense for a touchdown. Then what looked to be a botched snap turned into a two-point conversion for the Bobcats and they extended their lead to 15-0 with less than seven minutes to go in the first quarter.

The Bobcats continued their strong offensive push against the Panthers for the rest of the quarter for two more touchdowns and a free kick, finishing the quarter ahead of the Panthers, 32-0.

The Panthers started the second quarter off with a bang and reminded the Bobcats that they were still a force to be reckoned with.

With more than 10 minutes left in the second quarter, senior Panther James Wemple ran more than 50 yards for a touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion from the Panthers that put the score at 32 to 8.

Then, with just less than 10 minutes left in the second quarter senior Panther Jerry Brovold stripped the ball from the Bobcats, giving the Panthers possession on the 17 yard line. Wemple then ran the ball in for a touchdown. The Panthers got an illegal motion flag on their attempt for points after touchdown, and the score stayed at 32-14.

Not to be stopped easily, then Bobcats scored another touchdown with a pass to Stenberg with more than eight minutes left on the clock. Sribenjakul made the kick and the Bobcats widened their lead to 39-14.

With six and a half minutes left in the quarter the Panthers fumbled in the end zone, giving the Bobcats a safety.

The Bobcats and the Panthers continued their score-fest for the rest of the quarter with impressive touchdowns from Bobcats Guilio Schmid and Stenberg as well as Panther James.

By the end of the second quarter the score was 55-20.

Neither the Bobcats nor the Panthers managed to score again until early in the fourth quarter when the Bobcats pushed in a touchdown and missed their field goal attempt to round their lead off at 61-20.

Despite strong efforts by both teams, neither managed to score again before the clock ran out on the fourth quarter.

This is Superior’s third victory of the season and they remain undefeated.

“One of our long term goals is to just get better every week. We don’t want any peaks or any valleys,” said Lucier.

The Panthers have had a rougher season with no wins so far but head coach Jake Giffin said that the team is showing significant improvement.

“I think we’re coming together offensive-wise,” Giffin said.

The Panthers are an exceedingly young team this year with only four players with any varsity experience.

“Superior’s a tough team to prepare for because they run a different offense from everyone else,” Giffin said.

Lucier said that he was proud of the Bobcats for their hard work and added that beating the Panthers was no easy feat.

“They’re good physical kids, Jerry Brovold’s as physical a kid as there is and James Wemple’s as good a running back as there is,” Lucier said. “So I think we did pretty good.”

Both teams will be away next week with Alberton facing Sheridan and Superior facing Twin Bridges.

“We just got out and played,” Giffin said.