Revenge, it is said, is a dish best served cold.

The Superior Bobcats wouldn’t care if it were cold, warm or scalding hot. They found the playoff-clinching Friday night win over Mission a tasty meal no matter the temperature.

Senior quarterback Jaxson Green carved up the Bulldogs with six rushing touchdowns and two passing TD’s as the Bobcats avenged last year’s regular season ending loss to Mission with a 68-30 win in Superior.

The victory, which pushed the Cats season record to 5-4 and perhaps more importantly gave them a 5-3 Western 8-player conference mark, good for the league’s fourth seed in the state playoffs which get underway this weekend.

Superior lost the 2022 season finale 58-0 to Mission in a battle of unbeaten, 8-0 teams. That loss cost them the top seed in the West, but they did earn a first round home game against Forsyth, which is their opponent in this year’s first round, this time in Forsyth. Superior beat the Doggies 52-6 last year.

The loss eliminated Mission from playoff contention, closing out their season with a 4-4 league and overall record.

The opening quarter of Friday night’s game was a scoring frenzy. Superior senior Lucas Kovalsky took the opening kickoff to the Mission 10 yard line before he was run out of bounds. Two plays later, Green crashed into the end zone for the first of his six rushing touchdowns, putting Superior up 6-0 with just over a minute gone in the first 12 minutes of play. The PAT attempt was no good.

Mission struck back on its first possession, via a 65-yard touchdown pass play from quarterback Titan Mansell to Landon Walks Over Ice. The extra point run was good, putting the Bulldogs in front 8-6 with more than 10 minutes left in the opening quarter.

The Bobcats erased that lead a short time later when Green capped a long Cats drive with a six-yard TD run. The PAT run was good and with six minutes left in the quarter, Superior held a 14-8 lead.

Mission regained the lead on their next possession via a 21-yard scoring stroll by Kelby Dumont. The PAT run was good, giving the lead back to Mission 16-14.

That lead lasted just long enough for Kovalsky to haul in the ensuing kickoff and race 68 yards down the sideline and into the Mission end zone. That put Superior back in front 20-16.

Superior added to their lead as the first quarter came to an end when Jaxson found Phin Cataldo on a 37-yard passing TD. The PAT try was again no good, but the Bobcats still had a 26-16 lead.

In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Mission scored on a 30 yard aerial hookup between Mansell and Les LeFrombois. A successful two-point PAT play cut the Superior lead to 26-24.

The Cats struck back quickly, with Green scooting 28 yards into the Bulldogs end zone, putting them ahead 32-24. Jaxson scored his fourth running touchdown of the game on the Cats next possession, plowing over the goal line from two yards out. A successful two point conversion gave Superior a lead they would not relinquish, 40-24.

Before the first half ended, Mansell found LaFrombois on a five-yard scoring pass. The PAT was no good and at the half, Superior was in front 40-30.

The second half was all Superior.

Jaxson ran for a pair of touchdowns, both short hops from one yard out, boosting the Bobcats to a 54-30 lead with one quarter to play.

The home team padded their lead in the fourth quarter, as Cataldo hauled in a pair of touchdown passes, one from Kovalsky, the other from Green. When the final second ticked off the clock, Superior was ahead 68-30 and on its way to the first round of the 8-player playoffs.

Green finished the game with 109 yards passing, good for a pair of TD’s. He also had 118 yards rushing on 24 carries for the Cats. Kovalsky picked up 69 yards rushing on nine carries and was 2-2 passing, good for 44 yards and the TD to Cataldo, who led the Cats in receiving with three TD’s and 115 yards as part of his productive evening.

The Cats rushed for 222 yards as a team with 153 total yards passing.

“Yes, that game felt good,” said Superior head coach Jeff Schultz. “The seniors really stepped it up. They were part of last year’s team and had a chance to redeem themselves. We knew we were going to have to play well to beat them”.

Schultz also had high praise for the defense, which featured five starters who are either freshmen or sophomores.

“The underclassmen really stepped up too,” he said. “They really rose to the challenge. I can’t wait to see what they can do next week”.