LINCOLN-The 60th season of Alcona High football got off to a sour start.

Despite a furious comeback attempt in the game’s closing minutes, earlier mistakes caught up with the Tigers on Friday and ultimately resulted in a 35-30 loss to Tawas.

“(I’m disappointed with) not so much the scoreboard as (I am by the fact that) we did some things that were uncharacteristic of our football team. But we learn and we go on. It’s one game, but it’s about a million life lessons we learned tonight,” Alcona coach Jason Somers said.

Alcona (0-1) trailed 35-14 with 3:35 left, but refused to give up until the clock hit all zeroes. In just 2:05, the Tigers marched 80 yards to the end zone with a drive that ended with Jack Hutchinson jumping over the pile from two yards out to score. Brock Franklin added a successful two-point conversion.

On the ensuing kick, Dresden Parkinson recovered the onside attempt, giving Alcona the ball at Tawas’ 49 yard line. Alcona needed six plays to score again with Tim Hutchinson scoring from seven yards out. Parkinson caught a pass from Alex Stephenson for the two-point conversion and just like that, it was 35-30 with 14 seconds left.

The Tigers ran out of time to pull any closer as Tawas corralled the next onside attempt and took a knee on the final play.

“There’s always some positives to take from every game, so that’s what we talked about (after the game) is building on those series and going from there,” Somers said.

While the Tigers’ late-game charge gave them a lot of momentum, it came after an uneven first half and a largely frustrating second half. Bad penalties at all the wrong times stalled Alcona drives, prolonged drives for the Braves and wore down the Tigers mentally.

A one-yard touchdown run by Tawas’ Jordan Henry tied the game 14-14 with 3:07 left in the third quarter. On Alcona’s next drive, Stephenson fumbled and the Braves recovered, scoring after just four plays on an eight-yard run by Henry.

Two costly penalties stalled Alcona again on the next drive and Henry later scored again with 4:07 left, giving Tawas a 28-14 lead.

The Braves recovered the ensuing kickoff after a fumble and scored again as Dakota Rupp rumbled 45 yards to paydirt on Tawas’ next play.

Henry finished with just 52 yards on 14 carries, but scored four touchdowns.

Rupp had 13 carries for 146 yards and a score. Tawas quarterback Owen Irvin was 3-for-5 for 40 yards and Jakob Krumm had 30 reception yards.

Franklin led Alcona with 145 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Tim Hutchinson had 92 yards on 12 carries and a score. Alcona’s defense was led by Cody Schram with 14 tackles and Stephenson with 12.

The first half was a smashmouth game with both teams eating up yards and time by running the ball. Alcona started the game on offense and marched from its own 25 to the red zone, but Stephenson was intercepted by Henry.

Alcona’s defense rose up on Tawas’ first drive as the Braves converted three times on third down, but ultimately turned the ball over when Jack Hutchinson stuffed a fourth down run by Rupp.

The first quarter was scoreless, but Franklin helped the Tigers get on the board first. Beginning at their own 28, the Tigers went 72 yards in seven plays with Franklin scoring on a one-yard run with 6:45 to play in the half to put Alcona up 6-0.

Helped by a few timely catches, Tawas answered back on the next drive and Henry scored on a three-yard run to help put Tawas ahead 7-6 at halftime.

Tawas started the second half with the ball, but turned it over on downs after some costly penalties. Early in the drive, a touchdown run by Jordan Oliver was negated by a block in the back.

On the Braves’ next drive, another Oliver touchdown run was negated after a Tawas’ lineman aided Oliver getting into the end zone.

In between the two drives, Stephenson gave Alcona a 14-7 lead on a one-yard touchdown run and Parkinson ran in the conversion.

Alcona plays at Hillman next Thursday.

Gaylord St. Mary 42, Atlanta 0

GAYLORD – The Atlanta Huskies got off to a rough start in the 2016 season as they dropped their opener on Thursday by a score of 42-0 to Gaylord St. Mary.

Despite forcing four turnovers, the Huskies were unable to get anything going on offense. Quarterback Austin Corbin completed eight of his 23 passes and also recovered a fumble on defense.

Mark Durocher hauled in five receptions on the night, while Hunter Reeves and Bruce Lamorand each caught two passes.

Durocher and Dillan Brancheau led the defense with 10 tackles each and an interception apiece. Manny Diaz and Nick Byarski each had tackles for a loss and Kody Reeves recorded a sack and recovered a fumble.

With the loss, Atlanta falls to 0-1 on the season and will play host to Rogers City on Friday.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.