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

Aaron Cuzzort, Trace Juergens and Ethan Byrne all ran for touchdowns 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 had 135 yards on 12 carries and Juergens had 120 yards on 10 carries. Dalton Forrester paced Atlanta’s defense with 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss.

Alcona 16, Tawas 14

TAWAS–A balanced offensive attack allowed the Alcona football team to top Tawas 16-14 in the 2019 season opener.

Dominic Howe had 13 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns while Mason Clark had 18 carries for 62 yards for the Tigers

“This win was a great team win,” Alcona coach Jason Somers said.

Zach Stephenson ran in a two-point conversion and hooked up with Jacob Sytek for another one to give Alcona the scoring advantage.

Sytek led Alcona’s defensive effort with two interceptions and 10 tackles. Alcona also got a great effort from Logan Witham who added nine tackles.

SOCCER

Alcona 7,

Sault Ste. Marie 2

LINCOLN–Brett Nelson scored four goals and the Alcona soccer team got in the win column for the first time this season after beating Sault Ste. Marie 7-2 at home on Thursday.

Ryan Stanley had a goal and three assists and Tim Jameson and Koedy Berryhill each had a goal.

Alcona keeper Aidan Wrobel made 10 saves.

“Our numbers are down, but it was a good team win for us tonight,” Alcona coach Tim Munro said.

Alcona (1-1) plays at Fairview on Tuesday.

VOLLEYBALL

Wolverine 3, Atlanta 2

WOLVERINE–The Atlanta volleyball team ended up just shy of victory on Thursday.

The Huskies went wire-to-wire with Wolverine, but fell in five sets: 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 18-25 and 15-17.

Andrea Jadrych had three aces, six kills and six digs for Atlanta and Tanaysja Tidwell had two aces, one tip, eight kills and eight digs. Marisa Perry added seven aces.

Atlanta’s JV team defeated Wolverine in three sets: 14-25, 25-23, 15-13.

Alexis Markby had seven aces and Abby LaPorte had a solid all around game for the Huskies.

Atlanta hosts home matches on Tuesday and Thursday next week.

The Huskies played hard on Wednesday, but fell in four sets to Boyne Falls on the road: 20-25, 25-19, 21-25 and 21-25.

Jadrych led Atlanta with 16 kills, two aces and four digs. Perry had three kills, seven digs and five aces and Hailee Brown played a strong defensive game, finishing with nine digs, one kill and two aces.

Atlanta’s JV won over Boyne Falls in three sets: 18-25, 26-24 and 15-11.

Chloe Koronka had four aces, two tips and three digs for the Huskies and Markby had five aces and two digs.