As the No. 10 team facing the No. 6 Seeley-Swan Blackhawks on their home turf, the Superior Bobcats did not flinch, but still fell 56-42 to the conference-leading Blackhawks in Seeley Lake Friday.

Now 4-2 overall and in Western C 8-Man conference play, coach Jeff Schultz and his Bobcats are set to host winless Plains Friday in Superior. The Horsemen have played only two games this season due to low roster numbers, the most recent a 52-32 loss to Arlee in Plains last week, but Schultz said Plains’ coach assured him that the Horsemen would play Superior Friday.

“I sure hope so,” Schultz said. “We have only three games left in the regular season and would love to get this one in.” The Bobcats will complete regular season action at Arlee October 17 and hosting Victor October 24.

Shultz said defensive mistakes hurt the Bobcats in Seeley, but that the physicality his boys played with was encouraging. “We did a good job of staying in the game but we made too many mental mistakes early,” he said. “If we would have played the first half like we played in the second, we might have had a chance of winning.”

Shultz said the Bobcats matched Seeley-Swan’s superior overall size advantage with some hard-hitting play. “We were more physical than they were, played really well on the line,” he said. "Stayed with them most of the night.”

The Blackhawks were as good as advertised Shultz said. “They maul you up front and have good speed in the backfield,” he offered. “But I was impressed with how we played them.”

The wild first half, which ended with Seeley leading only 42-34, set the stage for a physical second half, where the Blackhawks managed to stay ahead and win.

Superior quarterback Landon Richards played a hand in five touchdowns for the Bobcats and Turner Milender scored the team’s other TD rushing.

Former Superior student Derek Brovold hurt the Bobcats the most from his receiver position, Schultz said. “We pretty much stopped their running game,” he said. "They mostly hurt us with their passing.

Schultz said that senior George Hanson led Superior defensively with 11 tackles in Seeley.