Ogemaw Heights' Evan Zimmerman (30) holds on as Tawas Area's Alex Verlac tries to pull away.
Michael Noffsinger's late interception ended the Braves' final scoring threat.
Ogemaw Heights' Kevin O'Neil fights his way through the Tawas defense.
A.J. Baker
The Falcons celebrate their first North East Michigan Conference title since 2002.

TAWAS AREA - Oct. 5, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights wasn't going to let its North East Michigan Conference title chances slip away.

Tawas Area brought its big-play capability, their own league title hopes and memories of last year's victory at Ogemaw to the table on Friday.

The Falcons had their memory of their loss at Standish-Sterling last week.

Ogemaw built a two-touchdown lead, saw Tawas come back and tie it, then gradually took the game over in the second half to hand the Braves a 34-21 loss and earn the Falcons a share of their first NEMC championship since 2002, an honor they'll share with Standish-Sterling.

"Last week's loss definitely didn't hurt when it came to our focus (this week)," said Ogemaw coach Andrew Pratley. "We'd lost our chance to win the league title last week; we weren't going to let it slide by two weeks in a row."

Though the Falcons dominated possession of the ball by running more than 70 plays to the Braves' 30, they found themselves in a battle when Jeff Janis' 85-yard kickoff return midway through the third quarter pulled Tawas even at 21-21.

With rain dampening the second half, the Falcons stuck to the ground and methodically worked their way downfield, with Michael Noffsinger's 11-yard touchdown run capping an lengthy drive. Jarritt Orlando hit his fourth extra point to make it 28-21.

Alex Verlac broke loose for long run on the Braves' next play from scrimmage, but Noffsinger tripped him up inside the 10-yard line. The Falcon defense then kept the Braves out of the end zone, and the offense took over and chewed up much of the fourth quarter with a 95-yard drive that resulted in Trevor Zettel's game-clinching 16-yard touchdown run.

"The goal line stand was pretty big," Pratley said. "But so was the 95-yard drive. It gave us the most comfortable lead we'd had since the first quarter.

"It wasn't our best defensive game, but we came up big when we had to."

Tawas wasn't done, advancing into Ogemaw territory before Noffsinger's interception sealed the Braves' fate.

"It was a great atmosphere and a great game," said Tawas coach Tim Webb. "Give Ogemaw well-deserved credit. They executed and converted their third and fourth-down plays and we did not. They took care of the football, and we made some costly mistakes."

The Falcons had been on the giving end of the turnover game at SSC the previous week, but this time benefited from the Braves' unintended generosity.

"When the games are this balanced, turnovers are going to be a big part of it," Pratley said. "We were able to hang onto the ball and sustain our drives."

Before the rains came after halftime, the Falcons used a balanced offensive effort to take a 14-0 lead. Noffsinger and Kevin O'Neil had touchdown runs in the first quarter, but Tawas bounced back with a 71-yard Verlac touchdown run and a 67-yard pass from Jesse Siwek to Eric Stec to tie it up at the half.

The Falcons came out and kept to the ground in the third quarter downpour, taking the lead on Noffsinger's second touchdown from 23 yards out.

"We felt pretty good offensively," Pratley said. "They weren't really able to stop us,.

"We wanted to establish a mix of the run and pass -- last year we felt like maybe we stuck to the ground too much. It worked pretty well, but once the rains came we decided to stick to the run."

In the second half, other than Janis' kickoff return and Verlac's big run that came up just short, the Braves had trouble getting much going offensively as well.

"I'm extremely proud of how our kids played," Webb said. "We were greatly undersized at every position on the field and played tough with them for most of the game.

"They stopped our outside rushing attack but that allowed Verlac to have a great game running between the tackles. I told our kids that sometimes you just have to tip your cap (to the other team). They played better than us and deserved to win."

Verlac finished with 228 yards on 12 carries to lead all rushers. Shaun Jordan had nine solo tackles and 13 assists to lead a busy Tawas defense, while Tyler Wojahn had four tackles and 11 assists.

Noffsinger rushed for 178 yards on 28 carries and caught two passes for 22 yards. Trevor Zettel added 100 yards on 15 carries and O'Neil rushed for 50 yards and threw for 125 yards on 12-of-18 passing, including four balls caught by Kelvin Page for 61 yards. Andrew Funsch had five tackles and three assists, Zettel had three tackles and three assists and Tyson Little had five tackles for the Falcon defense.

Tawas (5-2, 3-2 NEMC) hosts Lincoln Alcona (2-5) with a chance to wrap up their second straight playoff berth.

The Falcons (6-1, 4-1) have clinched a playoff berth and host Gaylord (4-2) for their homecoming game in what should be another challenging contest.

"They've gone to a spread offense and have been throwing the ball 50 times a game," Pratley said. "They have some great athletes and have been putting up a lot of points other than one game where they had some turnovers. It should make for an interesting evening."