ARENAC EASTERN - Aug. 28, 2009 - Arenac Eastern's Kyle Zobel had two interceptions and fumble recovery to go with eight tackles, earning him one of the Bay City Times' weekly "top performers" awards as the Eagles shut out Detroit Allen Academy 8-0.

Unfortunately, he also left the game in an ambulance with a concussion and broken finger, putting a damper on AE's season-opening win before receiving word that he would ultimately be OK.

"It was pretty scary," said Eastern coach Mark Machulis. "As soon as he got hit, you heard the crowd groan. He never lost consciousness but he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"We know we won't have him for a bit; how long is up to the doctors. We're just glad it wasn't more serious."

As for the game itself, the Eagles prevailed despite being severely outnumbered.

"When I saw 35 kids get off the bus, I thought, 'Oh man, what have I done?'" Machulis said. Allen Academy had replaced Owen-Gage, which opted to play 8-man football, on the Eagles' schedule. "But it was a good win. We learned a lot about our team and we handled some adversity.

"But we also saw what we need to work on. We have a lot of work to do yet."

Quarterback Graham Morgan bulled into the end zone behind Al Bilacic and Austin Clark for the game's lone touchdown in the second quarter, then ran in the two-point conversion.

Morgan finished with 69 rushing yards on 19 carries, with Caleb Whitney leading team in rushing with 92 yards on 18 carries.

Morgan had 10 tackles and Buford Jones added nine on the defensive side.

"We can't make the same mistakes we made if we want to beat Mio," Machulis said. "It was fun winning the game, but it's all over on Monday. Then, it's back to work."