COOS BAY — Of the consecutive losses — now 18 — North Bend has suffered in the Civil War game to rival Marshfield, Friday’s may easily have been the toughest.

The Bulldogs churned out a pair of 102-yard rushing efforts from senior tailbacks Lane Seals and Shawn Mitchell and dominated the entire first half only to be undone by miscues in the second.

Marshfield rallied for 13 unanswered points in the final 171⁄2 minutes and escaped with a 26-12 season-opening win at Pete Susick Stadium.

“This was a big, emotional victory for us,” said Pirates coach Kent Wigle, who improved to 19-1 against North Bend. “That was a great group of athletes we played against tonight, and our kids really showed a lot.”

Marshfield’s biggest series of plays came in the second quarter when North Bend was turned away on four straight plays inside the Pirates’ 10-yard line. A touchdown and conversion would have put the Bulldogs up by at least 13 at the half, but Marshfield’s front seven wouldn’t budge.

After Mitchell grinded out six yards on back-to-back carries, fullback Kale Forrester was stopped for no gain on third and goal at the 2. On fourth down, quarterback Ethan Ottemiller handed off to Mitchell again on a dive to the left side. Defensive backs Levi Meline and Justin Kirk made a break for Mitchell and met him two yards behind the line of scrimmage with linebacker Will Messerle, turning the ball over on downs.

“It was a big missed opportunity,” Mitchell said. “We needed to execute, and at that time, we just didn’t, and they did. That was the difference.”

The Pirates agreed.

“It was huge,” Messerle said. “It took their momentum right from them. And then we came out and scored the TD right off (in the second half) and it took the wind right out of their sails.”

Marshfield capitalized off of three North Bend turnovers — all in the second half. Pirate linebackers Jesse McClintock and Kyle Brown both had fumble recoveries with McClintock’s leading to the go-ahead touchdown run by Jesse Fox in the third quarter.

North Bend almost doubled Marshfield’s time of possession in the first half while outgaining the Bucs by 140 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs still could have done more, eight-year coach Bill Masei said.

“I’m proud of the effort out of these kids,” added Masei, who remains winless against Marshfield. “We made a few mistakes, and they were too costly.”

“It’s the toughest loss I’ve ever had against Marshfield. I feel we were the better team tonight.”

With newfound momentum going into the second half, the Pirates put together a six-play opening drive, capped with a pivotal 4-yard touchdown pass from Brogan Oswald to Jordan Shepherd on fourth and goal.

Shepherd, a varsity newcomer, hauled in three catches for 51 yards and connected with Oswald again for a 22-yard touchdown strike in the fourth, making it 19-12.

“Our younger guys stepped up tonight and we made some big progress as a team,” Wigle said.

Oswald, the Bucs’ senior QB, looked impressive in his first start under center, tossing for 117 yards and two touchdowns while completing eight of 13. He also rushed for a team-high 78 yards on 14 carries.

“It took us a while to get started,” Oswald said. “They came out fired up and ready to play. They really thought they were going to win.”

And it looked that way for the first 12 minutes. North Bend took a 6-0 lead on its first possession of the game — a 12-play 87-yard scoring drive complete with two third-down conversions.

Seals, who rushed for 62 yards during that stretch, ended it with a 7-yard touchdown run.

“It hurts right now,” said Seals, who had 17 carries. “We worked hard for this game and looked forward to it for the past four years. It was a great game at least.”

Marshfield, a Class 5A school, went ahead for good in the third quarter after Fox’s 3-yard touchdown run made it 13-6. It was one of two scores on the day for Fox, who plowed in from 16 yards out for an insurance touchdown with 4:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The senior fullback finished with 61 yards on 11 carries and said it took a team effort to put the 4A Bulldogs away.

“I owe it all to the linemen blocking for me,” Fox said. “They did a great job blocking in the second half.

“We really pulled it together and made it more of a team effort.”

Unlike last year when the Pirates steamrolled away to a 40-7 win, North Bend showed poise Friday even after falling behind. Led by their bullying front five, the Bulldogs got off the mat with a three-play touchdown drive to make it 13-12. Forrester, a senior, got the ball rolling with a 33-yard run.

He bounced off tacklers down to the Marshfield 22-yard line, helping set up a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ottemiller to Mitchell, who caught the ball in the right flat, broke a tackle and sprinted into the end zone.

“We ran the ball well tonight,” North Bend senior tackle Elliot Adams said. “We were pretty dominant up front — everyone played well.”

Ottemiller, a senior, went 6-for-11 for 76 yards. He was intercepted by Kirk midway through the fourth, which all but sealed the game.

“We got calmed down,” Messerle, a senior, said of the second half. “We didn’t have much jitters. We knew what we had to do.

“We didn’t want to be the one to lose the streak.”

Both teams continue nonleague play next week as Marshfield hosts Marist and North Bend travels to play Newport.

Despite Friday’s loss, Masei said the Bulldogs should bounce back.

“We showed that we’re a good football team tonight,” he said. “This is going to be a great season.”