Dakota Gagnon scored on a two-yard run with 11:14 left and the Cardinals hung on to beat the Hurons 12-8 at Whittemore-Prescott.

The Cardinals were stopped on a pair of two-point conversion during the game, but got just enough points to beat the Hurons.

Whittemore-Prescott struck first in the contest, taking a 6-0 lead, after Kyle Fenner scored on a three-yard run with 2:11 left in the first quarter.

The Hurons struck back quickly as Isaac Hein found J.D. Ellenberger for an eight-yard touchdown pass just 59 seconds into the second quarter. The Hurons were successful on the two-point conversion and took an 8-6 lead.

Courtesy Photos Both the Alpena High boys and girls cross country teams finished runner-up at the Dwayne Rau Invitational on Thursday in West Branch. Jacob Kochanski and Madi Szymanski were the top finishers for the boys and girls teams respectively.

Rogers City plays at Tawas next Friday.

Atlanta 44,

Charlton Heston 20

Editor’s Note: The stats in this writeup have been updated from the version that appeared in Friday’s paper.

ST. HELEN–Strong play on both sides of the field gave the Atlanta football team a win to start the 2019 season.

Aaron Cuzzort accounted for five touchdowns, Trace Juergens had two scores and Atlanta’s defense held strong in the second half as the Huskies defeated Charlton Heston Academy 44-20 on Thursday.

Atlanta (1-0) led 22-20 at halftime, but shut down the Patriots’ offense in the second half and found momentum on offense to pull away.

“We haven’t had that in a while (a season-opening win). I started three freshmen tonight, so to come away with a win is huge,” Atlanta coach Troy Cheedie said. “Both sides of the ball played well. Defensively, we came out and shut them down and offensively we kept building momentum.”

Cuzzort was 10-of-16 passing for 102 yards and a touchdown pass, which went to Juergens. On the ground, Cuzzort had 215 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries. Juergens had 175 yards and a rushing touchdown on 14 carries.

Juergens led Atlanta with four catches for 63 yards and Ethan Byrne had four catches for 32 yards.

Dalton Forrester paced Atlanta’s defense with 11 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Steven Bilski, Gage Cheedie and Cuzzort each had seven tackles and Byrne and TJ Currie each had an interception. Juergens and Forrester combined for three fumble recoveries.

Atlanta plays at Au Gres on Friday.

CROSS COUNTRY

Wildcats finish runner-up in West Branch

WEST BRANCH–The Alpena High cross country teams got off to a solid start after both the girls and boys teams finished runner-up at the Dwayne Rau Memorial Invite in West Branch on Thursday.

Sophomore Madi Szymanski led the way for Alpena’s girls team, finishing fourth in 21:07.49. She was followed by teammates Anna Young (13th, 22:58.54); Alexis Reynolds (14th, 22:59.13); Kaylee Rondeau (15th, 23:05.69); Molly Dickinson (21st, 23:25.79); Grace Mitchell (26th, 23:50.90) and Tiffany Foster (37th, 24:43.49). Overall, seven Alpena girls runners brought home a medal.

Sophomore Jacob Kochanski paced Alpena’s boys team, finishing sixth in 18:21.01. He was followed by teammates Lucas Manning (18th, 19:03.92); Cameron Young (19th, 19:15.85); Hunter Hitzelberger (20th, 19:16.19); Elijah Allen (22nd, 19:18.70); James Kuhl (23rd, 19:19.64); Blake Macdonald (27th, 19:53.67) and Westen Domke (32nd, 20:13.27). Overall, 13 Alpena boys runners brought home a medal.