Badgers rally past St. Maries
BONNER FERRY — The Badgers fought their homecoming game hard against St. Maries, coming from behind to score 26 unanswered points in the second half to win 32-20.
"We came out, played pretty flat in the first half and came back in the third half to play our kind of football," said Bulldog Coach Caleb Arceneaux.
The Badgers scored six points at the get go in the first quarter when Travis Stolley caught a 24-yard pass from quarterback Sam Botkins.
St. Maries' Ben Felix ran four yards in the first quarter to answer Stolley's touchdown, and the team added another point with a good kick. Felix did it again with 95-yard run and a good kick before the first quarter ended.
Bonners Ferry remained scoreless in the second quarter, while St. Maries surged ahead with a five yard running touchdown, again by Felix.
By half time, St. Maries led the Badgers 20-6.
Sam Botkins showed Felix he isn't the only one who can run fast when he made a 58-yard run to narrow the gap in the third quarter.
The Lumberjacks led by eight points, but the Badgers were fired up to score 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Matt Bennett brought the Badgers up to 18 points with a three-yard touchdown, then Ryan Cox caught a 37-yard pass from Botkin and the Badgers passed up the Lumberjacks, leading 24-20.
Cox sealed the deal with just more than three minutes to go when he intercepted a pass and ran 18 yards for a touchdown. Botkins passed to Stolley for another two points, and the Badgers held down the Lumberjacks until the end of the game.
The team was fairly discouraged by half time, said Cox, but knew what they had to do.
"I was just excited that we could come back in the second half and put it all together as a team," he said.
Bonners Ferry (2-4) plays Priest River at home on Friday at 7 p.m.
St. Maries 14 6 0 0 — 20
Bonners Ferry 6 0 6 20 — 32
BF— Travis Stolley 24 pass from Sam Botkins (pass fail)
STM — Ben Felix 4 run (kick good)
STM — Felix 95 run (kick good)
STM — Felix 5 run (kick fail)
BF — Botkins 58 run (run fail)
BF — Matt Bennett 3 run (run fail)
BF — Ryan Cox 37 pass from Botkin (run fail)
BF — Cox 18 interception (Botkins pass to Stolley)