The Opp Bobcats held a substantial 17-7 lead halfway through the third quarter during region competition with Montgomery Catholic Friday night, but the visiting Knights answered with two touchdowns to claim the win 20-17.

Head coach Jack Whigham said he feels some bad decisions allowed the Knights to return for the fourth-quarter win Friday night.

“I thought our kids played hard,” Whigham said. “We missed an opportunity to make a touchdown and we didn’t make some key plays when we needed to. I should have punted the ball away in the fourth quarter and tried to pin them deep. I was concerned about our ability to stop them. I made some bad decisions that I feel cost us the ball game and I have to be smarter than that.”

Opp’s Richard Davis put the Bobcats (5-4, 5-2) on the board first with a 24-yard touchdown run at the 2:25 mark of the first quarter. The point after attempt was good and Opp slipped into a 7-0 lead.

The Knights (6-3, 5-2) wasted little time with their response, issuing a 25-yard touchdown reception with 33 seconds left in the first. The point after attempt was good at the scored tied up 7-7 going into the second quarter.

Opp’s Quadir Kincaid finished off a solid Bobcat drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:24 remaining in the first half. The extra point was good and Opp regained the lead 14-7.

Hunter Jones claimed the final points of the first half with a 22-yard field goal for the Bobcats to provide a 17-7 lead at the half.

Davis led the Bobcats in rushing for the first half with seven rushes for a total of 41 yards and one touchdown. Kincaid delivered four rushes for a total of 20 yards and one touchdown.

Whigham said he feels some key adjustments in the locker room allowed Montgomery Catholic come back and win the second half.

“I think they went in at halftime and made some good adjustments,” he said. “They found some ways to move the football. They kept putting so many people up in the box against us that it was hard for us to run the ball. We had to make some throws and some catches and we were just not able to do it.”

The Knights delivered their first touchdown of the second half with a 22-yard reception at the 3:43 mark of the third quarter. The extra point failed and the Bobcats’ lead was shortened 17-14.

Montgomery Catholic sealed the deal with a short 2-yard run at the 5:17 mark of the fourth, completing a successful series of passing plays, to claim the night 20-17.

Montgomery Catholic quarterback Josh Clark finished with 10 of 14 completions for a total of 160 yards, one interception and two touchdowns.

Davis lead the rushing assault for the Bobcats with 13 carries for 71 yards and one touchdown. Kincaid finished the night with 12 carries for 39 yards, one reception for 24 yards and one touchdown.

Opp quarterback Gavin Free delivered four carries for 15 yards and completed four of nine passes for a total of 60 yards.

Opp will play Andalusia next week at 7 p.m. in Andalusia.