FLINT - Aug. 25, 2007 - Finding a way to beat Flint Powers was one thing. Physically dominating what has been one of the state's top football programs over the past few years was something else entirely.

The Ogemaw Heights football team had to wait an extra day to begin the 2007 season thanks to storms that ripped through the Flint area Friday. The Falcons made it well worth the wait, bottling up returning all-stater Ronnie Lark and controlling the line of scrimmage on the way to a 20-6 victory.

"The defense was outstanding all day long," said Ogemaw coach Andrew Pratley. "I couldn't be more proud of how they held (Powers) in check."

The Chargers were ranked second in the Flint Journal's pre-season poll, thanks largely to Lark, primarily the team's quarterback but also the Chargers' former primary running back and sometime receiver. The Falcons' defense limited him to 44 rushing yards on 10 carries, forced a fumble and intercepted him three times.

"That was a pleasant surprise," Pratley said. "We feel he's one of the best backs in the state -- of course, they play him at quarterback as well as running back. Last year they had a couple of other (college-bound) athletes that made it tough to decide who to stop. They still have some great athletes, but we wanted to stop Ronnie and make someone else beat us. Fortunately that didn't happen."

Powers took the lead early, taking advantage of good field position at the Ogemaw 40 and scoring on a 20-yard run by Josh Smith with 6:39 left in the first quarter. The margin stayed at 6-0 when Carl Worthy blocked the point after.

Anthony Betancourt picked off a pass late in the first half to set up the Falcons' first score, a five-yard run by quarterback Kevin O'Neil with 21 seconds left in the half. And on Ogemaw's first drive of the third quarter, Michael Noffsinger gave his team the lead for good with a 40-yard run for a 12-6 lead.

Thereafter, it was matter of the Falcons' offensive line pounding away at the Charger defense, eating the clock and eventually wrapping the game up on another Noffsinger scoring run, this one from 18 yards out with 9:45 remaining.

"The offensive line really got going," Pratley said. "They pounded them off the ball."

So complete was the Falcon dominance on the line of scrimmage that they didn't even attempt throw a pass in the second half. O'Neil hit 5-of-13 throws in the first two quarters.

"Offensively in the first half we were still trying to figure out what was going to work," Pratley said. "Passing-wise, we had some people open, but our timing was a little off. At the half the line thought they could do more in the running game. Kevin reads the option so well, if a defense tries to guess (what he's going to do), they're going to guess wrong."

Noffsinger finished with 154 yards rushing on 22 carries, while on defense he had seven tackles and two interceptions.

Worthy led the defense in tackles with eight, including two for a loss, and a sack. Kyle Shelley added six tackles (including two for loss), with a sack, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

The Falcons made two trips to Flint to play the game. After riding out the storms for over an hour in a basement Friday afternoon, the game was called off when lightning struck a light pole, forcing the game to be rescheduled.

"Two trips to Flint is not fun," Pratley said. "But it was well worth it in the end."

The Falcons (1-0) will host Petoskey (0-1 after a 28-7 loss to Marquette) on Aug. 31 in the area's only Friday night game over Labor Day weekend (most other games are scheduled for Thursday). The game will be preceded by a 4 p.m. tailgate party to honor the 1997 state championship team, which will also be honored at halftime.