ST. REGIS - The big, bad Seeley-Swan Blackhawks might be the bullies on the block in Western 8-Man football but that doesn’t mean the Tigers were all that impressed with them last Friday in St. Regis, they played to win.

The St. Regis Tigers turned in a valiant effort, roaring back from an early deficit and tying the game at 36-36 midway through the third quarter, before the burly Blackhawks finally took control and moved to the 72-36 victory. Now 1-1 overall and in conference play, coach Jesse Allan and his Tigers are set to visit 0-2 Troy Friday.

It was a game of streaks against Seeley-Swan. The run-oriented Blackhawks bulled out to a 20-0 lead by the end of the first quarter on touchdown runs by Quinlan McClure, Black Irwin and Kolten Zurmuehlen, and a two-point conversion run by Tallon Good.

St. Regis rallied behind quarterback Connor Lulis at that point, making the game a back-and-forth battle through the second and third quarters. First, Lulis connected with Isaac Kelly on a 56-yard touchdown pass and then again on the two-point conversion to make the score 20-8.

After Seeley scored again to up the lead to 28-8, Lulis then hit Nathan Bohn with a pass and Bohn streaked 61 yards for another Tiger touchdown. After Lulis hit Kelly with the conversion pass, the score was 28-16.

Holding the Hawks on downs after that, Lulis then connected with TD Tucker Desoto for another touchdown on a 31 yard pass right before the half to suddenly make it 28-22 Seeley.

Early in the second half, Lulis ran 30 yards for another touchdown to tie the game at 28-28. Answering another Seeley TD by Irwin a short time later, the Tigers scored again on a 35 yard pass from Lulis to Bohn and, with a Lulis pass to Kelly for two points tacked on, had tied the game again at 36-36 with 4:40 left in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Tigers and the home crowd in St. Regis, the Blackhawks then took control with a grinding running attack on offense and some stiff defense, scoring the final 36 points of the game in the third and fourth quarters to settle the outcome.