ST. REGIS – After a back-and-forth battle through the first half, the St. Regis Tigers roared back from a 10-point deficit to claw past the Mineral County rival Superior Bobcats 48-30 in the Western C 8-Man opener for both teams at St. Regis Friday night.

Now 1-0 in conference action, the Tigers face yet another key 8-Man test Friday hosting 1-0 Seeley-Swan in another home game with early-season playoff implications. Preseason pundits had picked Seeley, Mission, Superior and St. Regis as the teams to beat in the west in the preseason. Of note, Seeley opened play with a 50-6 win over Arlee last week.

Hoping to rebound and maintain their position in the playoff discussion, coach Jeff Schultz and the Bobcats will host Troy Friday. Troy was set to visit Victor Saturday.

St. Regis coach Jesse Allan said he wasn’t too worried when the Tigers came out of the locker room trailing the Bobcats 30-20 at halftime. “We told the kids that we just needed to come out and play like we know we can,” he said, “and we were able to make some plays in the second half.”

Indeed, Tiger junior quarterback Connor Lulis, senior running back/receiver Barrett Bessette and junior wideout Nathan Bohn played leading roles for the Tigers in the St. Regis win. Lulis threw three touchdown passes (and came up with a key third quarter interception) on the night, Bessette scored four touchdowns and Bohn two.

Landon Richards, Gannon Quinlan, Turner Milender and Phin Cataldo all reached the end zone for touchdowns for Superior.

“St. Regis played well, they are a good squad,” Superior coach Jeff Schultz said. “But we had our chances in the second half. We just need to learn to play tougher at the key points in games.”

With thunderstorm clouds threatening (but thankfully not producing) most of the night, the Bobcats took the lead midway through the first quarter and held it throughout most of the first half.

After Bessette scored his first TD on an 11 yard pass from Lulis and the conversion pass fell incomplete, St. Regis led 6-0 with 6:10 left in the first quarter.

Answering immediately with a strong drive of their own, the Bobcats eventually reached paydirt on a two-yard run by Richards, and after Cataldo snagged the conversion pass from Richards, Superior led 8-6.

Superior then held St. Regis on downs and took over the ball at the Tigers’ 31. A few plays later, Quinlan streaked around left end on an 11-yard run for the touchdown and, after the conversion pass failed, Superior now led 14-6 early in the second quarter.

At that point, Lulis and Bohn kept the Tigers moving by connecting on a pretty-as-you-please, 45-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-12, which it remained after the conversion pass was no good.

Extending the advantage to 10 points, Superior scored on a fine double pass play, with Cataldo (after taking a lateral pass from Richards) dropping a dime on the speedy Milender for the 49 yard touchdown throw. Richards plowed in for the two-point conversion to make it 22-12 Bobcats.

Again, St. Regis answered with a scoring drive of their own, this one capped by Bessette, who after taking a short pass from Lulis, used a mean stiff-arm to shake free down the right sideline and score for the Tigers on a 20-yard play.

Continuing the back-and-forth battle, Superior again marched down the field and managed to score with only eight seconds left in the half on a two-yard pass from Richards to Cataldo, and Richards added the two-point run to put the Bobcats up 30-20 at the half.

The Tigers used some timely defense and more big plays to turn the game St. Regis’ way in the second half. The Tigers took the opening kickoff of the half and quickly moved into scoring position, getting the touchdown on a 17 yard pass from Lulis to Bohn and, after the conversion pass failed, reduced the Superior lead to 30-26.

Superior again answered in kind and quickly moved into scoring position, but Lulis intercepted a Richards pass in the end zone and ran it back out to the 10-yard line to give St. Regis possession. After Richards returned the favor by intercepting a Lulis pass, St. Regis then held the Bobcats on downs.

Bessette gave the Tigers their go-ahead, stay-ahead points by carrying the rock in from 33 yards out on a double-handoff reverse for the touch, and Lulis ran in the two-point conversion for a 34-30 St. Regis lead.

With about seven and a-half minutes left in regulation, the Tigers again held the Bobcats on downs at Superior’s 33. St. Regis freshman Tucker Desoto then gave the Tigers a cushion on their lead by streaming 33 yards for another St. Regis touchdown. The conversion run was no good, making the score 40-30.

Holding Superior on downs after that, the Tigers salted the game away, gaining a few clutch first downs along the way, scoring their final touchdown on Bessette’s fourth TD, which he got on an 11-yard jaunt with 2:32 remaining. Lulis found Desoto with the two-point conversion pass for the final scoring of the game.

    ST. REGIS FRESHMAN Tucker Desoto looks to elude the Superior Bobcat defense in 8-Man football action at St. Regis Friday. (John Hamilton/VP-MI)
  

    BOBCAT SENIOR Phin Cataldo pulls in a pass from quarterback Landon Richards during the Tigers’ 48-30 win over Superior in St. Regis Friday. (John Hamilton/VP-MI)
  

    SUPERIOR JUNIOR Turner Milender rides the blocking of senior Sam Doughty (80) and other Bobcat players during Friday’s game in St. Regis. (John Hamilton/VP-MI)