For the second straight week, the Sebastopol Bobcats came out flat and fell behind early.
Fortunately for the Bobcats, the lull didn’t last as long as it did the week before against Lake.
The Bobcats fell behind 13-0 but rallied with 29 second half points to beat Pisgah 36-19 on Friday night.
Sebastopol is now 2-1 on the season and will host Clarkdale on Friday night for homecoming.
For the second straight week, the Bobcats fell behind early, something concerning to coach Nicky Mooney.
“We have not started good yet,” Mooney said. “I don’t know what the problem is. We have just come out flat and not played very well. It’s like they are just going through the motions. After the first quarter, I thought we started to play better. And in the second half, we played as good as we have played all year.”
The Bobcats got the ball to start the game and drove to the Pisgah 27 before turning the ball over on downs. The Dragons ripped off a big play and then scored on a 12-yard run. The PAT was good and Pisgah led 7-0.
The Bobcats went three and out and Pisgah then went 63 yards in 11 plays and scored on a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. The PAT was blocked and Pisgah led 13-0.
The two teams swapped punts before Sebastopol finally got going on offense. The Bobcats went 47 yards in nine plays as David Williams scored on a 2-yard run. Cy Mooney hit the PAT and the Bobcats trailed 13-7 at the half.
“I worry that our kids think we are better than we actually are and think they can just go through the motions,” Mooney said. “We just keep starting terrible and fortunately we were good enough to withstand that and eventually take over the game. We still have some things to figure out there.”
The Bobcats got a break when a bad snap on a punt gave Sebastopol the ball at the Pisgah 6. Kari Michaels then scored on a 6-yard run and Mooney hit the PAT to give the Bobcats a 14-13 lead.
The Dragons answered right back as they scored on a 65-yard run. The try for two failed and Pisgah led 19-14.
The Bobcats responded as they went 40 yards in six plays as Michaels scored on a 14-yard run. The try for two was good and Sebastopol led 22-19.
Sebastopol then recovered an onside kick and went 55 yards win three plays as Williams scored on a 30-yard run. Mooney hit the PAT and Sebastopol led 29-19.
Sebastopol’s last points came from the defense as Jess Johnson intercepted a pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. Mooney hit the PAT for the final margin of 36-19.
“The second half went like I thought the whole game was going to go,” Mooney said. “And I thought we looked like the better conditioned team and finished well. We have moved the ball every game but just have some mistakes that hurt us. You can tell we are playing with a first-year quarterback. We just can make mistakes and have penalties. I think we are pretty good as long as we stay ahead of the chains. We don’t throw it nearly as good as we did so we are going to be a power running team. We just can dig a hole for ourselves like we did
The Bobcats had 212 yards rushing on 35 carries and 73 yards passing for 285 yards of total offense.
Williams led the rushing attack with 133 yards on 17 carries with two TDs while Michaels had 74 yards and two TDs on 15 carries. Michaels was 4-of-9 passing as Johnson had two catches for 49 yards.
