Superior narrowly falls to Darby

DARBY – The Superior Bobcats were already at a disadvantage when they took the field under the bright lights of Darby on Friday, Sept. 12 due to the absence of their starting quarterback and it may have contributed to their second loss of the season.

The Bobcats stayed with the Darby Tigers throughout the game despite playing without starting quarterback Wyatt Zylawy who was out with lingering effects from a concussion suffered in the season opener. The Bobcats even took the lead with just minutes to go in regulation but the Tiger offense answered back, eventually winning the game 52-50.

After turning the ball over on downs on their first drive, the Bobcats intercepted a pass from Darby and took over with good field position. The Bobcats were unable to score after the Darby turnover and had to kick the ball away.

With three minutes left in the first quarter, Darby would strike first making the score eight to nothing. Superior kicked the ball away again after a stop by the Darby defense but after a Tiger fumble on the return, the Bobcats recovered and looked poised to score deep in Darby territory.

After a long bomb from junior Aaron Kelly, Superior answered right back with a touchdown of their own making the score 8-6 in favor of Darby with less than a minute to go in the quarter. The period would end with the score 8-6.

The second quarter started with Darby stripping the ball from a Bobcat running back and running it all the way for another Tiger touchdown making the score 14-6. Darby would recover a Superior fumble and were in scoring position deep in Bobcat territory. Darby would run the ball into the end zone and looked to be running away with the game.

However, no one told that to the Superior Bobcats. Senior Josh Benda pulled down a long toss from quarterback Vicente Guerrero and the Bobcats were driving on the Tigers. Benda and Guerrero did it again on the ensuing play and the team from Superior was in scoring position.

On the very next play just as Superior was about to close the gap, the ball was again stripped from a Bobcat and run back for another touchdown. That made the score 26-6 with ten minutes left in the half.

In the second half, with Darby running the score up on the Bobcats and threatening to hand the team from Superior their second loss of the season, some of Coach Allan Labbe’s other weapons began to come alive. Bridger Lapierre began to get it done on the ground and Seth West began to haul in passes from the air.

Lapierre would score on the ensuing Bobcat drive making it 26-12 and the team looked to be getting back on the right track late in he second half. The Tigers would turn the ball over on downs giving the Bobcats another chance to close the gap.

West pulled down a long pass from Guerrero and the team was threatening to score for the second time in just a few minutes. With just over four minutes to play in the first half, West pulled down another pass in the end zone making the score 26-20.

After an onside kick from Superior was recovered by the Tigers, the team from Darby promptly marched down the field and scored again to make the score 32-20 with just two minutes to go.

West and Guerrero were at it again on the ensuing drive with West pulling down yet another long bomb from his quarterback. Benda caught another Guerrero pass in the end zone to make the score 32-26 with just seconds left in the half. Lapierre would make the point after attempt and the quarter ended with the score 32-28.

The two teams would trade scores to begin the second half with Darby drawing first blood but Superior answering right back making the score 38-34.  The Bobcats would take over on the next drive after Darby fumbled the ball deep in their territory.

Superior was stopped by the Tiger defense and had to kick the ball away. Shortly after, Superior took over the ball after Darby tried an unsuccessful fake punt attempt. West’s hands were in effect again after pulling down another long pass from Guerrero putting the team in scoring position late in the third quarter.

The Superior Bobcats would take the lead for the first time in the game to start the fourth quarter with a strong run from Guerrero. The Tigers answered right back, retaking the score on a touchdown run and making it 46-42 with just over nine minutes to play in the game.

Superior’s defense would stop the Tiger’s drive, giving their offense an opportunity to retake the lead. The Bobcats would make a fourth and short attempt to keep the drive alive with minutes ticking away on the clock. However, after a bobbled snap was recovered by Darby, that drive came to an end and the Tigers were once again driving for an insurance score.

Darby capitalized on the Bobcat turnover making the score 52-42 with a little over two minutes left in the game. The Bobcats never gave up on the game and within seconds scored again to stay in the game making the score 52-48 with just over a minute to go. The point after attempt was successful and Superior was within two points of tying the game.

The on-side kick from the Bobcats was recovered by Darby and after a first down, the Tigers were able to simply run out the clock, winning the game 52-50. Labbe said, while the team may not have come away with a win, the way his team stayed in the game was encouraging for the coaching staff.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Labbe said. “We faced adversity and that’s the sign of a good team when you face that and still have a chance to win it. We had to make some adjustments on the fly. We still need to work on our tackling so that’s what we will be focusing on this week.”

The Bobcats will next play Victor at home Friday, Sept. 19 with kickoff at 7 p.m.