BANCROFT — At its best, eight-man football features explosive plays and high scores. The game was played at its best Friday at North Gem.

The Cowboys scored 11 touchdowns, but that was barely enough to squeak by the Rockland Bulldogs, 78-72, and claim the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference title and its lone guaranteed state bid.

A team that gets to the end zone 11 times would likely expect to lead from start to finish. But that wasn’t the case for North Gem.

Rockland opened the scoring, and held a 6-0 lead at the midway point of the first quarter. But both teams found their offensive rhythm from there, with the Cowboys taking a 16-12 lead in the second period.

The Bulldogs, however, threatened to pull away before halftime, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take a 26-16 advantage half-way t

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