SILVERTON - All season long, the Wallace football team has feasted on smaller opponents, wearing them down with a combination of strength and speed on both sides of the ball.

Against visiting Superior, the 2008 Montana state class C champion, it was the Miners who wore down, losing 79-46 in a game they led 40-29 in the third quarter at Sather Field.

Wallace (5-1) took that lead after a Tyler Beard took a kickoff the distance for an 88-yard score with 7:41 left in the third quarter. From there, the Bobcats took over and showed why they consider themselves a second-half team.

Superior took advantage of a handful of Miner turnovers, giving the Bobcats a chance to flash their up-tempo offense, and outscored Wallace 50-6 the rest of the way in the lopsided victory.

"We were no more tired than they were on the other sideline, they were just completing passes and our coverage wasn't there," said Wallace coach Dave Rounds after his team's first full (four-quarter) game of the season. "We knew going in that our pass defense was our weak link, and they came out and picked it apart. We can't trade our pass defense for a different one, so we're just going to have to work on it as we keep going."

Wallace entered Saturday's game ranked second in Idaho's 1A Division I media poll, with Superior (7-0) ranked fifth in Montana's class C poll.

"We run a no-huddle, fast-paced offense, which enables us to really get going and kick on the afterburners come the fourth quarter. We wore them down, and conditioning is something we really worked on," Superior coach Dan Lucier said. "We throw a lot - which a lot of teams don't see in eight-man ball, and we have a really good scheme set up for their strong linebackers and defensive line. We were just able to exploit some weaknesses."

Even going into the fourth quarter the game was still close. After Beard's kickoff return, Superior's Billy Smith twice drove his team down the field, scoring on a 14-yard sweep, and connecting with running back Matt Campbell on a 30-yard wheel route to bring the score to 43-40 in the Bobcats' favor entering the final quarter.

Wallace and Superior traded scores to begin the fourth before things began to fall apart for the Miners. In the span of 51 seconds, Wallace quarterback Casey McKinnon - who finished with 411 all-purpose yards with four scores - threw two interceptions, and Beard fumbled a lateral on a kickoff return, allowing the Bobcats to swell their lead from 51-46 to 72-46.

"These are the same problems and mistakes we've made since the first game, and we just happen to be playing teams we're so much better than that they don't make us pay," Rounds said. "Things aren't clicking in, and we come out and face a good team like this, and they punished us for our series of mistakes."

Kidman Cook had 163 yards rushing for the Miners, and Beard had 133 yards receiving, including an 82-yard fade route from McKinnon that gave the Miners a brief 3-point lead in the second quarter.

For Superior, Smith had 364 yards passing, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also added 61 yards on the ground and three more scores. Adam Kay had 92 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Campbell had 192 yards through the air and found the end zone once.

Wallace hosts Clark Fork on Friday.

Superior 7 15 21 46 - 79

Wallace 12 12 16 6 - 46

W - Gavin Rasmussen 30 pass from Casey McKinnon (run failed)

S -Adam Kay 48 run (Daylon Kuhl kick)

W - McKinnon 12 run (run failed)

S -Kevin Ryan 1 run (Kay pass from Billy Smith)

S - Kay 2 run (Kuhl kick)

W - Tyler Beard 82 pass from McKinnon (run failed)

W - Beard 11 pass from McKinnon (run failed)

W - Lemieux 35 run (Lemieux run)

S -Ryan 3 run (Kuhl kick)

W - Beard 88 kickoff return (Cook run)

S - Smith 14 run (Kuhl kick)

S - Matt Campbell 30 pass from Smith (Kuhl kick)

S - Smith 2 run (Kay pass from Smith)

W - McKinnon 2 run (run failed)

S - Kay 13 run (kick failed)

S - Smith 10 run (Matt Campbell pass from Smith)

S - Aaron Lowman 15 pass from Smith (Kuhl kick)

S - Kay 6 run (Kuhl kick)