The Rush City Tigers had a short-seasons's worth of fumbles as they lost to Deer River 26-13 in the home opener Aug. 31.

In total, the boys had 11 fumbles, while only two of them were recovered by Deer River.

Head coach Greg Hills said the fumbles made it difficult to get into an offensive rhythm.

"Despite this, we were able to move the ball forward and were able to keep pressure on the Deer River defense," he said.

It was the Tigers first regular season game and conference game of the year.

Hills said they had the opportunity to win, but just couldn't put the pieces together before time expired.

Sophomore Justin Bosman, brother to last year's quarterback Jake Bosman, was at the quarterback position.

"Justin had a real good game," Hills said.

Bosman finished the game nine of 16 for 168 yards passing. He also had five carries for 77 yards.

Scoring touchdowns for the Tigers were Bosman, who had a 45-yard run for the score.

In the 4th quarter, Blake Rustad caught a three-yard pass from Bosman for the score.

The Tigers were able to close the gap to 20-13 in the 4th quarter but were not able to tighten the offensive screws quick enough and allowed one last score by Deer River.

Jason Benson led the boys with 18 total tackles, followed by Josh Marty with 14.

Senior Luke Carlson also added five tackles and three sacks along with a fumble recovery.

"We will look to improve our tackling and taking care of the ball and we will try to build on our positives this week," Hills said.

Up next, the Tigers play Moose Lake/Willow River on the road Friday.