Senior Night ends with 52-16 loss as Falcons dominate on ground
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ALPENA - The Alpena Wildcats football team closed its 2026 season on Senior Night with a 52-16 loss to the visiting Ogemaw Heights Falcons on Friday at Wildcat Stadium.
Ogemaw Heights improved to 7-2 and positioned itself for the postseason behind a ground game that piled up nearly 500 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
The Wildcats moved the ball on their opening possession but came up empty on fourth-and-goal from the 12-yard line when senior Andrew Szymoniak's pass to Cash Moughon went incomplete.
On the next snap, Ogemaw Heights running back Brenson Keith burst free and raced 88 yards for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was good, and the Falcons led 7-0.
Alpena forced a three-and-out after a punt pinned the Falcons deep in their own territory. Sophomore Jett Prevost then broke through the line, blocked the punt, recovered the loose ball and was helped into the end zone by teammates as the home crowd erupted. Alpena lined up in a swinging-gate formation on the two-point try, and Szymoniak found senior Eli Werth for the conversion. The Wildcats took an 8-7 lead with 2:22 left in the first quarter.
Ogemaw Heights answered on its next possession. The first quarter ended during that drive with the score still 8-7. Keith scored to cap the series, and the Falcons converted the two-point attempt to go ahead 15-8 with 11:51 remaining in the second quarter.
After an Alpena interception, the Falcons struck again. Keith scored his third touchdown of the half on a 39-yard run. The two-point conversion failed, leaving Ogemaw Heights in front 21-8 with 8:52 left in the first half. The Falcons added another rushing score to push the margin to 29-8 with 2:24 remaining before the break.
Alpena responded with a sustained drive late in the half. Moughon completed a pair of key passes to junior Zach Orban, one of which moved the ball just hy of the endzone. Szymoniak finished the series with a touchdown run that marked his 20th scoring play of the season, tying the school single-season record previously set by Dave Szejbach in 1991. The two-point conversion was successful, giving Alpena its final 16 points of the night.
The second half belonged to the Falcons. Ogemaw Heights continued to control the line of scrimmage and the clock with its running game, adding enough scores to reach the final margin. Alpena captain Henry Wirgau recovered a fumble in the third quarter, one of the few defensive highlights for the Wildcats after the opening period.
Keith finished the first half with more than 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns, including the 88-yard score and a pair of 39-yard runs. The Falcons' overall rushing total approached 500 yards on the night.
At halftime, Alpena honored its senior class of 12 student-athletes. The group included captains and contributors such as Wirgau, who also made the fumble recovery; Gavin Ross, who caught a pair of passes in his final game; Brody Misiak, who carried the ball twice and contributed on defense throughout the season; and others including Werth, Eion Eades, Greyson Srebnik, Reilly Atkinson, Simon Duthler and Ethan Sahr.
Szymoniak, who transferred from Gaylord and has played a central role in the Wildcats' offense for two seasons, entered the game one touchdown shy of the single-season mark. His score against the Falcons completed the tie. The Wildcats had shown flashes throughout the year, including a 40-0 shutout of Sault Area the previous week in which Szymoniak accounted for six touchdowns, but the inability to sustain drives and stop the run proved decisive on Friday.
Ogemaw Heights, coming off a 61-6 win over Farwell, demonstrated the physical, run-oriented style that has defined its season under coach Chad Miller. The Falcons' seven rushing touchdowns and near-500-yard ground performance left Alpena little room to generate consistent offense after the early blocked-punt score.
The loss ended Alpena's campaign. The Wildcats finished the season 2-7.