Wildcats fall to Flint Powers on Homecoming
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ALPENA - Friday night at Wildcat Stadium had the homecoming crowd, the green-and-white stands and a first half that looked like Alpena's night. By the final snap, Flint Powers Catholic had stolen it, 21-18.
The Wildcats built a 12-0 lead, watched it slip away in the second half and still had the ball inside the Chargers' 20 with seconds left. Andrew Szymoniak was tripped up on the last carry and the clock expired. Homecoming ended one score short.
Alpena came out ready for Powers' Wing-T. The Wildcats crowded the line, stuffed early runs and kept the visitors from finding any rhythm before halftime. Flint Powers managed little yardage in those first two quarters, punted four times, went three-and-out three times and threw an interception. For a home crowd that had waited through a three-game slide, that was the start it wanted.
The offense followed. On Alpena's second possession, Szymoniak took a second-and-9 from the 41, found a lane and went the distance. The extra-point try glanced off the upright. With 1:38 left in the first quarter, it was 6-0. That score held through the end of the period.
The Wildcats struck again on their first series of the second quarter. Facing fourth-and-9, Cash Moughon hit Greyson Srebnik for the conversion that kept the drive alive. Szymoniak finished it from seven yards out. The kick sailed wide, but Alpena led 12-0 with 1:46 left in the half. The homecoming crowd had two touchdowns and a shutout half to take into the break.
After the coronation and the bands, the game changed.
Alpena's first second-half possession chewed up a large piece of the third quarter and moved the chains deep into Chargers territory. On fourth-and-17, Moughon threw the interception that flipped field position. Flint Powers took over at its own 21. Jayce Beauchamp finished that drive with a rushing touchdown on first-and-goal. The extra point was good. With 1:11 left in the third, Alpena's lead was 12-7.
The fourth quarter belonged to Beauchamp and to a string of plays that the Chargers turned into points.
The Wildcats punted on the first play of the period. Powers started again at the 21. Beauchamp broke a 71-yard touchdown run, the kick was good, and with 9:33 remaining Flint Powers led 14-12.
An unsportsmanlike-conduct flag then put Alpena at its own 11 with 9:25 left. Later, with fourth-and-2 and fewer than six minutes on the clock, the Wildcats tried a fake punt. It failed. Two plays later Beauchamp scored again, this time from 30 yards. Another extra point made it 21-12 with 5:40 to play. The first-half kicks that did not go through the uprights left the margin thinner than the touchdowns suggested.
Alpena answered the only way it could: quickly. The next series opened at the 35 before a holding penalty shoved the Wildcats back 10 yards. On second-and-20, Szymoniak gained it all back, picking up the first down. Moughon picked up 14 on the next snap with a quarterback keeper to the 34-yard line. On second-and-5, Moughon found Eion Eades, who was brought down at the six-yard line. Szymoniak punched it in on second-and-goal.
Moughon stepped in to kick the extra point, and the try was blocked. The scoreboard read 21-18 with 2:46 left.
The defense forced a punt. Alpena got the ball back at its own 29 with under two minutes to play and timeouts in its pocket.
Moughon completed a second-and-10 throw to Srebnik for a first down. Powers jumped offsides, which should have put the Wildcats at the Chargers' 32. A 15-yard penalty on Alpena - a flag the home sideline thought should have been five yards -- instead left the ball at midfield. On third-and-15, Szymoniak spiked it with 23 seconds remaining. On fourth-and-15, Moughon found Gavin Ross for a first down at the 19-yard line.
One play remained, second-and-10 with eleven seconds on the clock. Szymoniak took the snap looking for open space but a Chargers defender tripped him up and the game clock expired.
Szymoniak led the way offensively, finishing with 160 yards on 21 attempts and all three Alpena touchdowns. Moughon, Srebnik, Eades and Ross supplied the throws and catches that kept the final two drives alive. Beauchamp supplied the three scores that flipped the game.
Alpena drops to 1-4 on the season. The Wildcats host Marquette on Friday in a Big North Conference game at Wildcat Stadium.
The first half Friday showed what this roster can look like when the gaps are filled and the run game hits. The last two quarters showed how thin the margin is when a failed fake and a late penalty stack up.