The Bobcats got a solid performance out of their defense but a late penalty call helped sink their hopes of pulling out the victory as they lost to Black Hills, 13-7, Friday night at Stewart Field.

Aberdeen is now 0-2 in the league and has an uphill battle to grab one of the op three spots and qualify for the postseason.

Aberdeen got the scoring started on the first drive of the game. The Bobcats started deep in their own territory but Kylan Touch was able to evade some tacklers in the backfield and was dragged down around the midfield logo.Touch was the focal point of the offensive attack, carrying the ball 37 times for 173 yards.

Touch fought forward for first down conversions on first down and Aberdeen found itself on the goal line. Instead of using Touch to finish the drive, quarterback Ben Dublanko kept it on a read option and put the Bobcats up 7-0.

Dublanko had a solid night on the ground himself and ran for 53 yards.

Scoring came early but neither team scored often the first half.

Black Hills appeared to be on its way to tying the game on its first possession. The Wolves had success on the ground and did well to stretch running plays to the outside on their march downfield but the drive ultimately stalled out when Aberdeen’s secondary came up big on fourth down to break up a pass that was headed towards the end zone.

Both teams punted on their next drives as both defensive units began to settle in.

“Our defense has come a long way and they played a great game,” said Aberdeen head coach Kevin Ridout. “Offensively, I thought we were able to move the ball but we played them tough, they played us tough and that’s what football game is supposed to be.”

Aberdeen’s defense had the Wolves on their heels again when a well-placed punt put Black Hills on its own three yard line.

With Aberdeen looking for a safety and bringing heavy pressure, the Taylor Simmons took the ball 97 yards on one play to tie the game at 7 apiece halfway through the second quarter. Simmons had 120 rushing yards in the game.

Both offenses struggled to find the end zone as the second half began but Aberdeen had a solid opportunity to reclaim the lead late in the third quarter.

A drive that was jump-started when Touch forced an interception and brought it out to the 30 yard line. Aberdeen worked the ball down to the 5-yard line but a field goal attempt from Giovanni Pisani was no good as it sailed off to the right of the uprights.

The rain that kept the football moist in the first half had stopped in the third quarter but Jimmy Boora took advantage of a Black Hills miscue and recovered a fumble on a botched snap on his own 35 yard line with less than a minute to go in the quarter.

Aberdeen’s defense appeared to be on the verge of making yet another stop on fourth down. But an official about 20 yards away from the play threw a controversial flag for pass interference when the Bobcats pass rush forced Ethan Loveless to make a throw that did not appear to be catchable.

With the drive extended, Black Hills ran the ball up the gut a few times deep in the red zone. Simmons then punched it in from about 5 yards out with less than two minutes remaining for what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Aberdeen got the ball with a little over a minute left to play and relied on big runs from Touch and Dublanko to get down to the 20. The Bobcats went to Touch one last time on fourth-and-short to extend the drive and stop the clock with 12 seconds remaining. But the Wolves plugged up any holes up the middle and stopped Touch two yards short of the first down to end the game.

“Touch did a great job and the line blocked really well,” Ridout said. “Its just a shame that the game got taken out of their hands at the end.”

The Bobcats will next take on a perennially powerful Tumwater team that is comming off of a 49-7 blowout of Centralia on Friday. That game is scheduled for next Friday at Stewart Field.

Ridout said he is proud of his team’s effort despite the outcome and remained optimistic about next week.

“We’ve got a tough road, but we’re going to battle and find a way to get there,” he said. “We have to find a way to beat Tumwater and finish out our season strong.”