For the first half of the game, it was as close as it gets. But in the second half, the third quarter to be precise, Fort Benton managed to pull away from Superior as the Longhorns kept their post-season Montana Class B football hopes alive with a 44-30 victory over the visiting Bobcats.

Superior, which had won its previous three games, including a resounding 54-20 road win over Forsyth in a first-round playoff game last week, scored first against Fort Benton when senior quarterback Jaxson Green hooked up with senior running back Lucas Kovalsky on a 47-yard touchdown pass. Kovalsky then ran for the two-point PAT (points after touchdown), staking the Cats to an early first quarter, 8-0 lead.

Before the quarter ended, Longhorn quarterback Truman Giese, a sophomore, matched the Superior score with a 25-yard TD strike to senior running back Cade Ball. Giese ran for the PAT, evening the score at eight each. It was the first of five touchdowns Giese would have a hand in during the afternoon.

In the second quarter, Green threw his second touchdown pass of the game to freshman receiver Gannon Quinlan, a 29-yard catch and run play that put Superior back in front. The PAT attempt was no good, leaving the score 14-8 in favor of the Bobcats.

A short time later, Giese galloped 52 yards for a score, then threw a two-point conversion to David Olson, putting the Longhorns ahead 16-14.

Fort Benton added to that lead a short time later when Ball capped a Longhorns drive with a four-yard plunge into the Bobcats’ end zone. The PAT failed, but Fort Benton held a 22-14 advantage with just minutes to go in the first half.

Before halftime, Quinlan snared his second TD pass from Green, this one good for 24 yards. Quinlan then hauled in a two-point PAT pass from backup quarterback Landon Richards, knotting the score at 22-22 as time expired in the first half.

The Horns came out strong in the third quarter, with Giese breaking the halftime tie via a 10-yard touchdown scamper. He added the PAT run, lifting the home team to a 30-22 lead.

Later in the third quarter, Bobcats’ coach Jeff Schultz reached into his bag of trick plays and pulled out a winner when Kovalsky flipped a 10-yard TD pass to Phin Cataldo, who then scored on the PAT run, tying the game again at 30-30.

From that point on, the Longhorns defense pitched a shutout against Superior, while Giese ran wild, helping Fort Benton move on to the third round of the state B-11 playoffs.

Giese broke the 30-deadlock with a 40-yard run later in the third quarter. A successful two point PAT run by Ball gave the Longhorns a 38-30 lead. Before time expired in the third quarter, Giese added his fifth TD of the game, this one an eight-yard scoring run. The PAT failed, but Fort Benton had forged a 44-30 lead heading into the final quarter.

Neither team scored during the final 12 minutes of play, as the Longhorns improved their season record to 8-2. The loss ended the Bobcats’ season with a 6-5 overall mark.

Fort Benton moves on to a game against Fairview this coming Saturday in Fairview.