FLORENCE, Wis. — Brayden Bartels ran for one touchdown and threw for another while Connor Guardiola scored on a fourth-down run to power the Niagara Badgers to a comeback 24-16 win over the Florence Bobcats Friday night at Florence High School.

The Badgers trailed 16-6 at halftime but began their fight back on their first possession of the second half.

“This was a great win for our program,” Niagara coach Benjamin Laarman said. “Florence took it to us in the first half, but our guys really responded in the second. I’m so proud of the way they stuck together and played tough in that second half.”

Bartels ran in from 15 yards out to pull Niagara (4-4) to within 16-12. After Abain Patterson picked off a pass, the Badgers drove again and scored on a 5-yard pass from Bartels to Wyatt Dunkes to take an 18-16 edge.

The Bobcats (3-5) drove on their next possession, but Patterson picked off a pass in the endzone to halt the march.

After the teams traded punts, Guardiola ran in from the 1-yard line on fourth down to push Niagara’s lead to eight.

Patterson nabbed his third interception of the second half late in the fourth quarter. Ater the Badgers punted, Owen Dunkes sealed the victory with an interception with just over a minute remaining.

Florence opened the scoring on the first possession of the game when Nick Nevil ran in from 31 yards out. Mason Koski added the 2-point conversion to give the hosts an 8-0 lead.

The Badgers answered on their initial possession of the contest when Bartels connected with Patterson on an 11-yard scoring strike to pull Niagara within 8-6.

The two defenses took over next with Niagara stopping Florence twice on fourth down and Florence returning the favor once. Additionally, Bobcat defender Luke Deterville picked off a pass deep in Bobcats’ territory to help his team hold onto its 2-point lead.

The Bobcats then drove the field and scored their second touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Koski to Bowen Spears with seven seconds left. Koski added the 2-point conversion to leave Florence up by 10 at the halftime break before Niagara began its second-half comeback.

Bartels finished with 170 rushing yards on 27 attempts and a touchdown and completed 19 of 23 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.