Football is often a hard game to figure. A few truths remain constant however.

The game is four quarters in length and depth is a key factor in determining seasonal success.

One loss or one win is just that, one. And a whole season lies ahead, even though perhaps the best game of the year may have already come and gone.

One thing is for sure: the 50-32 win by Superior over St. Regis Friday night showcased two really good football teams and several very good football players.

On a hot, muggy evening when cramps ruled the playing field, the Superior Bobcats and St. Regis-Mullan, Idaho Tigers scratched and clawed in an old fashioned slugfest that only one team can win.

On this night, the depth and desire of the Bobcats came out on top after 48 minutes of tough, back-and-forth Montana 8-man football.

Before a packed house in St. Regis, and with the first game of the year being homecoming for the Tigers in their only “home” game of the year, it looked in the beginning like a minor upset was in the making.

Led by all-everything quarterback Caleb Ball, whose moves on the field are every bit as fancy and colorful as his gold cleats, St. Regis-Mullan jumped out to a quick lead when senior defensive back Floyd Nelson snared one of what would be four interceptions on the night and returned it 34 yards for six points. Junior running back John Pruitt blasted over the goal line on the point after touchdown try (PAT), good for two points and an 8-0 home team lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter.

A short time later, Superior’s senior quarterback Orion “Bean” Plakke crashed over the goal line for a two-yard score. A failed PAT left the Tigers ahead, 8-6.

That lead grew less than two minutes later when Ball, the Tigers only senior, tossed a 42-yard touched pass to Pruitt. Another failed PAT resulted in a 14-6 St. Regis lead with 3:57 left in the opening quarter.

In the back-and-forth nature of the first quarter, Lucas Kovalsky and the Bobcats answered the Tigers’ TD when he ran nine yards for a score with just 16 second to play in the opening stanza. Tigers 14, Bobcats 12, time to get a soda?

Nope.

On the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff, Ball found Nelson open down the middle and watched as his teammate raced 68 yards with his second TD of the game. Going into the second quarter, after the proper amount of oxygen was administered to the crowd, St. Regis held a 20-12 lead over its I-90 rival.

As legendary sportscaster Keith Jackson would say, “we got a barn burner going on here tonight folks”.

Not to be outdone by the closing seconds of the first quarter, St. Regis-Mullan’s Ball intercepted a Superior pass by Plakke and danced his way to the Bobcats’ one yard line. On the next play, Tiger senior Blake Layton dove over the pile at the goal-line and put the Tigers up 26-12.

Before the end of the first half, Bobcat senior wide out Decker Milender scored on a four-year run. Plakke ran in for the two-point conversion and the barn fire was still burning with St. Regis on top 26-20.

Both defenses tightened up in the third quarter, no pun intended as several players went to the turf in agony over leg cramps most likely caused by the humidity of the night.

Milender opened what would be Superior’s comeback rally when he ran four yards for a score with 7:49 remaining in the quarter, putting the Cats ahead for the first time, 28-26.

But with 3:40 to play in quarter number three, Ball sprinted around the corner and outran the Bobcats’ defenders as he sprinted 60 yards to another Tigers’ score, putting the home team within two 34-32.

Kovalsky had other plans unveiled when he ran 23 yards for six with 1:54 left to play in the third. Jaxson Green ran two yards for the two-pointer and Superior had pulled ahead by four points, 36-32.

In the opening minutes of the final quarter, Green scored from four yards out as Superior’s depth began to show. Green’s TD put Superior ahead 42-32.

Milender closed out the scoring with one minute to play in the game when he hauled in a 27-yard TD strike to seal the victory, 50-32.

One of the highlights of the game was the four interceptions by Nelson. Milender, meanwhile, caught several passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, and scored two rushing Tds to lead the Bobcats.

Ball, who was chosen Homecoming King at halftime, threw two touchdown passes, ran for another and picked off two Superior passes in an outstanding overall performance.

Superior next comes to Plains for a game this Thursday at 7pm vs the hometown Horsemen. St. Regis returns to its Idaho home field (they are a co-op team with Mullan) for a game this Friday at 4:30 Mountain time against Clark Fork, Idaho.