BANDON — Brookings-Harbor used the Cranberry Bowl to unveil a powerful new running attack that produced 343 yards on the ground and kept the ball away from Bandon’s offense for much of the contest Saturday.

But despite grabbing a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and holding a two-touchdown advantage for most of the contest, the Bruins needed to recover an on-sides kick attempt by the Tigers in the closing moments to secure a 27-20 win in the season opener for both schools.

“The offense was very good,” said new Brookings-Harbor head coach Vince Longo. “It’s a good start.”

The Bruins had 24 first downs, to just seven for the Tigers. Brookings-Harbor also ran 25 more offensive plays than Bandon.

But Bandon quarterback Connor Jackson nearly brought the Tigers back in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we did as well as we could,” said second-year Bandon coach Motts Thomas. “It’s the first time we’ve had everybody present.

“To come back within a touchdown is good. We didn’t make mistakes that can’t be corrected in practice.”

Brookings-Harbor running back Dustin Paradis, the team’s returning workhorse in the backfield, scored on first-quarter runs of 15 and 23 yards and added a 24-yard scamper in the second quarter to give the Bruins a 20-7 halftime lead.

Bandon closed the lead to 20-14 when Jackson connected with Mike Bennett on a 3-yard pass with 7:17 to go in the game.

But the Bruins responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ate nearly six minutes of the clock. Fullback Derek Chavez did much of the work on the drive and quarterback Joey LaThorpe capped it with a 1-yard plunge with 1:27 remaining in the game.

But Bandon receiver Jimmy Mack got behind the defense on the first play of the Tigers’ ensuing possession and Jackson hit him for a 53-yard touchdown.

The Bruins clinched the win when Paradis recovered Bandon’s on-sides kick attempt and returned it all the way to the Tigers’ 39-yard line. Brookings-Harbor ran out the clock and then celebrated matching its win total from last season in just one game.

Paradis finished with 160 yards on 19 carries, while Chavez gained 105 on 21 attempts. Tyler Lueckfeld added another 69 yards.

“It’s nice to be able to share the wealth a little bit,” Longo said of not having to give Paradis quite so many carries as last year.

Longo said the win also showed the Bruins have some things to work on, especially after bad snaps on consecutive punt attempts gave the Tigers the ball in Brookings-Harbor territory in the second half.

The Bruins got away with the first miscue when a defender tipped a pass by Jackson and Brendan Speakman intercepted it in the end zone. But Bandon scored after the second bad punt snap.

The Bruins also turned over the ball three times. Bennett recovered a fumble and intercepted one of the two passes that LaThorpe attempted. The Bruins also muffed a punt.

“They gave us chances,” Jackson said. “We didn’t capitalize.”

But both Jackson and Thomas were confident that the Tigers will improve their tackling — one weakness Saturday — and their passing attack, which had Jackson lining up in the shotgun all game.

“We’re going to be better at it,” Thomas said.

Jackson completed 13 of his 20 attempts for 169 yards. Bennett was on the receiving end of nine of the receptions, and gained 80 yards on catches.

The passing helped offset a Bandon running attack that generated just 34 yards on 23 carries.

Thomas said the Bruins’ aggressive defense had a lot to do with that.

“Give 100 percent of the credit to what Coach (Longo) has done with that group,” he said.

The Tigers are back in action Friday when they visit Oakland. Brookings-Harbor hosts Phoenix.