ST. MARIES — Chances are hard to get back.

And the host St. Maries Lumberjacks had a lot of those on Friday night when they opened Central Idaho League play against the visiting Grangeville Bulldogs.

A 92-yard touchdown run, then a 24-yard touchdown pass on third and long on the next possession.

It just wasn’t the night for the Lumberjacks.

Layton Harris completed 12 of 20 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Bulldogs past the Lumberjacks 27-12.

“They made more plays than we did at the end of the night,” St. Maries coach Craig Tefft said. “They had more opportunities and we didn’t cash in. Too many dropped passes and missed tackles and the things we talked about. They did a better job in that area tonight and they deserved to win.”

Grangeville has beaten St. Maries nine straight times, outscoring the Lumberjacks by 243 points in those games.

“It felt like it,” Tefft said. “I hope not, but it definitely felt like it tonight. They’ve got a psychological advantage over us. For years, they’ve beaten us. Hope that’s not the reason, but they played good and deserved to win.”

Grangeville opened the scoring on a 92-yard touchdown run by Jack Lawrence. Austin Parks also caught a pair of touchdown passes from Harris to help Grangeville built a 27-6 lead after three quarters.

“We created some things that put us in a little better field position,” Grangeville coach Jeff Lindsley said. “We couldn’t run against them. We couldn’t block well, and to their credit, they schemed really well. They’re fast and strong up front, and we could never get our angles adjusted to that.”

Nate Masterson caused havoc in the Bulldog backfield, coming up with seven tackles for loss for St. Maries.

“Defensively, we play so well as a team,” Masterson said. “Our entire team and defensive line have played together for a long time and we’ve got some great chemistry. Those big plays just killed us tonight. As a whole, I was happy with the heart we showed.”

Offensively, Masterson had touchdown receptions of 19- and 9-yards for St. Maries.

“The play isn’t designed to go to me,” said Masterson of the 19-yard catch to pull the Lumberjacks within 13-6 at the half. “When I saw the ball coming, I just did my job and got it at the high point of the ball. Think we’re going to be just fine moving forward. We’re going to learn from this and get after Orofino.”

“Nate plays really good football for us week in and week out,” Tefft said. “Just going to have to learn from this and move on.”

Kiefer Gibson finished the game 16 of 38 for 157 yards and an interception for St. Maries, which finished the game with 90 yards rushing as a team.

St. Maries (6-1), which entered the game ranked third in this week’s 2A state football media poll, is off next week and will conclude the regular season at Orofino on Oct. 23.

“Going to hit our bye at the right time,” Tefft said. “We had some guys out tonight with some bumps and boo-boos, and we’re going to get them back. Just need to regroup and this is going to be a good week to do it. It was a tough night. Hats off to Grangeville, they played well.”

Grangeville (4-2) hosts Orofino next Friday night.

Grangeville 13 0 14 0 — 27

St. Maries 0 6 0 6 — 12

First quarter

Grange — Jack Lawrence 92 run (TJ Wiltse kick), 7:47.

Grange — Austin Parks 9 pass from Layton Harris (kick failed), 53.8.

Second quarter

SM — Nate Masterson 19 pass from Kiefer Gibson (run failed), 2:18.

Third quarter

Grange — Jack Kaschmitter 19 pass from Harris (Wiltse kick), 9:55.

Grange — Parks 15 pass from Harris (Wiltse kick), 45.3.

Fourth quarter

SM — Masterson 9 pass from Gibson (kick failed), 8.2.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Grange, Kaschmitter 16-39, Stokes 6-(-2), Lawrence 4-91, Harris 5-(-22), Parks 3-(-4). SM, Truscott 2-5, Asbury 12-37, Gibson 8-24, Sieler 3-24.

PASSING — Grange, Harris, 12-20-1-191. SM, Gibson, 16-38-1-157, Sieler, 1-1-0-13.

RECEIVING — Grange, Lawrence 1-25, Kaschmitter 2-42, Cawley 2-10, Parks 5-73, Stokes 3-37, Bush 2-13. SM, Humphrey 4-49, Sieler 4-34, Truscott 1-15, Martin 1-4, Masterson 3-40, Lounsbury 1-2, Asbury 2-26.