BANDON - Myrtle Point’s defense kept Bandon off the scoreboard until the Bobcats’ offense could hit its groove. When that happened, the Bobcats pulled away for a 26-8 victory over the host Tigers.

With Friday night’s win in its Sunset Conference opener, Myrtle Point improved to 4-0 on the season and, more important, 1-0 in league.

“It feels great,” said Myrtle Point back Scott Clark. “It’s always the goal to start league 1-0.”

The Bobcats and Tigers both reached the Class 3A quarterfinals last year, but may be battling for at best third in the Sunset Conference this fall with the addition of Class 2A champion Cascade Christian, which has dominated all the Class 3A schools it has faced this fall.

That made Friday’s game big for both teams.

In the end, Myrtle Point’s defense and five untimely turnovers by the Tigers were too much for Bandon to overcome.

“If it weren’t for the turnovers, this would have been a different game,” said Bandon coach Rod Taylor. “Every weekend, we have something different we have to work on. This weekend, we’ve got some ball baby-sitting.”

The turnovers killed Bandon’s chances for momentum early in the game.

The Tigers actually got the first break, when a squib kick to open the game wasn’t fielded cleanly by the Bobcats and Bandon recovered.

But four plays later, Myrtle Point’s interior defense stuffed Steven Gaspar short of a first down on a fourth-down play.

After Bandon forced a punt when Carlos Villa forced a sack of Myrtle Point quarterback Ryan Hamilton on third down, the Tigers gave the ball right back when quarterback Keith Moore fumbled and Garren Hitner recovered for Myrtle Point.

The teams traded punts — two by the Bobcats and one by the Tigers — before Myrtle Point’s Thomas Kincheloe recovered a fumble after a bad hand-off by the Tigers.

To that point, early in the second quarter, Myrtle Point didn’t have a first down. But four plays later, Clark squirted around the right end for 27 yards, setting up Sean Andy’s 5-yard touchdown run that gave Myrtle Point a 6-0 lead.

Myrtle Point couldn’t capitalize after Casey Cagley recovered Bandon’s third fumble, on a bad snap when Moore was lined up in a shot-gun formation. Clark slipped in the backfield on a fourth-and-two play.

Archie Garrett ended another Myrtle Point threat by picking off a pass by Hamilton deep in Bandon territory right before halftime.

Taylor was pleased with his team’s defense in the first half.

But something changed during intermission in Myrtle Point’s locker room, Clark said.

“That second half, we came out as a family,” he said. “The first half we didn’t play together. In the second half, we were unselfish. We really showed what the offense can do.”

Bandon’s first possession of the third quarter ended in a punt and the Bobcats marched down the field, scoring when end Evan Rice took an overhand lateral from Hamilton and found Tyler Love alone in the end zone for a 10-yard scoring pass.

The Tigers’ next two possessions both ended with fumbles recovered by Myrtle Point’s Derek Dewald, and Clark capped both Myrtle Point drives with touchdown runs.

Clark finished the night with 121 yards on 18 carries. The only downside was an interception he threw on a halfback pass with 4:35 remaining in the game.

At that point, the Bobcats were in control and the only question was whether Bandon could avoid being shut out for the second straight week after not scoring against Gold Beach in its league opener last Friday.

Moore answered that question by breaking through the line on a quarterback keeper and out-running Myrtle Point’s defensive backs for a 37-yard touchdown. Gaspar, who led the Tigers with 52 yards on 14 carries, added the two-point conversion for the final score.

Though the Bobcats missed a shot at a second shutout this season, Hitner, the team’s defensive leader, was thrilled with how his unit played.

“I think we came together pretty good,” he said. “We definitely took a major step tonight.”

From the first days of the preseason, Bobcat coach Brad Henshaw has said he was thankful for a schedule that gave Myrtle Point a first-week bye in league play to work on the new offense installed by coordinator Jon Marquez.

The fortunes of the schedule continue through league play, with the Bobcats avoiding the two titans, Cascade Christian and Gold Beach, until the final two weeks of the regular season.

Watching the offense struggle in the first half was discouraging, Henshaw said. The second half was the opposite.

“The second half, we started clicking,” he said. “We’ve been talking about by the fourth game, the offense needs to be clicking.”

He had little concern about the defense.

“Our kids are playing well on defense,” he said. “They’re flying around well.”

Myrtle Point did lose two players from the defensive line to injury — Cory Hay with a foot injury in the first half and Taylor Elliott, who was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure after colliding head-on with a teammate while making a tackle early in the third quarter.

The Bobcats are at home next week against Glide, while Bandon hosts Reedsport.