Bobcats face off against Arlee in opener

ARLEE – The Superior Bobcats suffered a tough loss against the Warriors of Arlee Friday, Sept. 5 as the team dropped their season opener on the road with a final score of 68 to 34.

The Bobcats started off strong in the first half scoring on their opening drive off a pass from senior quarterback Wyatt Zylawy. The Warriors were quick to answer scoring a touchdown of their own with less than eight minutes to go in the first quarter. Arlee made the point after attempt making the score 8 to 6 in their favor with just minutes left in the quarter.

Zylawy would strike again on the ensuing drive, rushing the ball up the middle for another Bobcat touchdown. The Superior team missed the point after making the score 8 to 12. In what appeared to be shaping up as an offensive slugfest, Arlee drove down the field and scored their second touchdown of the quarter making the score 14 to 12 with three minutes to go.

The first quarter ended with the same score. In the second quarter, both defenses showed up and slowed down the opposing offenses. The Warriors did manage to break free of the Bobcat defense on a long run for a touchdown making the score 20 to 12 with nine minutes left in the second quarter. The team from Arlee made the extra point attempt making the score 22 to 12.

After a penalty against Arlee backed them up, the Bobcat defense showed what they were capable of with a sack of the opposing quarterback resulting in a big loss of yardage. After a false start penalty on Arlee, the tide appeared to be turning for the Bobcats.

Unfortunately for the team from Superior, the Arlee defense also woke up and both offenses failed to score for a period of approximately five minutes of play in the second quarter. With a minute to go, the Warriors turned the ball over on downs and the Bobcats were in position to score late in the half.

After an interception, Arlee took over with 30 seconds to go. With two seconds left, they would score and make the point after leaving the score at halftime 30 to 12.

While not out of the game by any means, the Bobcats needed to score early in the second half to stay in it. Arlee appeared to score on the next drive but the play was called back because of a holding penalty in the backfield. They would go on to score and the game started to get away from the Bobcats with the score 36 to 12.

On the ensuing drive, despite a heroic effort to elude the Arlee defense, Zylawy was sacked for a loss of yardage. Arlee scored again after Superior turned the ball over, making the score 42 to 12 with just minutes left in the third quarter.

Despite facing an almost insurmountable deficit, the Superior Bobcats never gave up. The Bobcat offense came alive in the fourth quarter with Zylawy getting help from Vicente Guerrero, Josh Benda, Aaron Kelly, Bridger Lapierre, John Holecz and Seth West among others.

With 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Bobcats scored again making the score 42 to 18. Arlee came right back but so did the Bobcats, scoring again late in the quarter and making sure the Warriors knew they weren’t going down without a fight.

Zylawy would run the ball in again for a touchdown making the score 56 to 26. With just minutes left in the game, Guerrero caught a bomb from Zylawy making the score 62 to 32. Zylawy would get the point after driving the score up to 62 to 34.

The game ended with the score 68 to 34. Superior Head Coach Allan Labbe said he was pleased with how his team came out aggressive against the Warriors. He said during the first two drives of the game, his team was executing well. He did say in the coming week, the team would be focusing on one key aspect in practice.

“Tackling, period,” Labbe said. “We tried a new technique for tackling this year and it didn’t work. We had a fundamental technique that we hung our hats on for years and we need to get back to that because it works. We know it works. We need to get back on the right track.”

The team will next face Darby on the road on Friday, Sept. 12.