“It feels great to start off in the win column. It definitely got much closer than we wanted it to be at the end there, but overall a win is a win, and we’re going to come back next week with a chip on our shoulder ready to bring the intensity,” Alpena coach Eric Mitchell said.

Alpena (1-0) led 34-27 going into its final drive, but made a costly mistake on a bad snap, allowing Powers a chance to win after the Chargers rallied from a 27-3 halftime deficit to contend for the lead.

Powers drove right down the field and scored a touchdown with 58 seconds left in the game.

With all of the momentum on their side, the Chargers lined up to go for the two-point conversion, but a pass from Javontae Ross went straight through the hands of an open receiver, preserving the Alpena win.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena running back Eli Chism (24) stiff arms a Powers defender as he looks for running room along the sideline in the first quarter.

After deferring the coin toss to open the game, Alpena kicked off and made an early stop on defense at the nine minute mark in the first quarter, giving the offense a chance to take the early lead.

Jake Zann and Easton Srebnik connected early on a 40 yard pass that resulted in a touchdown and an immediate seven point lead.

The Wildcats came back out with the same intensity on defense and recorded another stop. This time a turnover was forced with 5:18 left in the first quarter, when Hunter Cohoon recovered a fumble by Ross.

That defensive stand resulted in perfect field position for Alpena and led to another touchdown.

On the second touchdown, Zann tossed an 11-yard pass to tight end Joe Sheridan to put the Wildcats up 14-0.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena’s Joe Sheridan, left, cheers after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter to help propel Alpena to a 14-0 lead in Thursday’s season opener at Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium against Flint Powers Catholic.

Flint Powers third drive finally resulted in a few points after the Chargers settled for a field goal.

Alpena’s third drive was electric as the offense proceeded to take advantage of Flint Powers’ weaknesses.

A 35-yard catch from Kaleb Donajkowski was then followed by a 15-yard catch from Srebnik. Zann capped off the drive with his third passing touchdown of the game in just the first quarter on a throw to John Kurowski.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, a bad snap and a failed PAT limited the score to 20-3 going into the second quarter.

Turnovers were an issue for both sides during the second quarter. Alpena forced its second fumble of the game with 7:20 left, but gave it right back just two minutes later on a fumble of its own.

At the end of a long Alpena drive, Zann found the end zone on a run to extend Alpena’s lead to 27-3 at halftime.

The Wildcats took possession of the ball to start the second half, but things immediately got off to a rocky start. An early turnover gave the Chargers the ball at the 10-yard line, which was punched into the end zone almost instantly.

Flint Powers took advantage of another Alpena fumble, leading to Ross running in another touchdown.

Just six minutes later, Ross did it again. With 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Ross scored his third touchdown of the half to cut the score to 27-24.

A huge kickoff return by Srebnik gave Alpena a boost and Eli Chism later found pay dirt on a 38-yard rushing touchdown.

The Chargers kept its momentum rolling again and set themselves up with a 40-yard field goal which was good right down the middle.

Leading the Wildcats in the victory was Zann, who finished 8-of-16 passing for 146 yards.

Zann’s main target was Easton Srebnik, who had five catches for 86 yards.

Alpena’s top rushers were Eli Chism and Kaleb Donajkowski. Chism had 15 carries for 90 yards and Donajkowski had 18 carries for 65 yards.

Flint Powers’ main rusher and passer was Ross, who had 24 carries for 201 yards and was 6-of-21 passing for 125 yards.

Ross’s top receiving option was Braxton Edwards, who finished with four catches for 107 yards.

The win gives Alpena a huge momentum boost going into next week’s game against Marquette, but Mitchell said the Wildcats still have work to do.

“There’s still all kinds of things we can work on. We’re going to come in and watch film tomorrow to see where we really went wrong and notice some things we did well,” Mitchell said. “Part of what we need to work on is deep coverage and the other part is just little offensive mistakes that put pressure on us that we were not accustomed to.”