After going down 14-0 early in the game, Alpena could not claw its way back to complete the comeback.

The final score ended 13-28, favoring the Redwings.

Despite the disappointing loss, the Wildcats honored each one of its seniors for Senior Night before their final game.

“The vast majority of these kids have come up through the Jets and Wildcats programs for four years,” Alpena coach Eric Mitchell said. “We’ve known these kids for a long time. This is a very tight-knit group. Even though we didn’t have the season we were looking to have, these kids stuck with it and grinded every day and gave it their best effort, which was an honor to coach.”

News Photo by Steve Jakubcin Alpena High School players Owen Kocan, left, and Carter Stark confer with coach Eric Mitchell during the Wildcat’s game against St. Johns on Friday night at Wildcat Stadium in Alpena.

Similar to last week’s game against Escanaba, Alpena fell two scores early, which was critical when determining the outcome.

After both sides started with a punt on their first two drives, St. Johns broke off a massive play that took the early lead and momentum.

A 55-yard touchdown was converted by Wyatt Blemaster, followed by the extra point, presenting the Redwings with the early 7-0 lead.

Once Alpena got the ball back, the Wildcats were forced into another punt situation. With wet conditions in the rain and 45 seconds left in the first quarter, Alpena snapped the ball right through the hands of the punter, Kaleb Donajkowski.

This turnover set up St. Johns on the goal line, where a quarterback sneak would be called and scored.

News Photo by Steve Jakubcin Alpena High School running back Kaleb Donajkowski carries the ball for a touchdown during the Wildcats’ game against St. Johns on Friday night at Wildcat Stadium in Alpena.

That one-yard rushing touchdown was scored by Brody Dush for his first touchdown of the night, extending the lead to 14-0.

Success was finally discovered by the Wildcats offense late in the second quarter.

With 4:50 on the clock, Easton Srebnik received the ball on an end around that resulted in a 28-yard gain.

Just a minute later, Donajkowski took an incredible 40-yard touchdown to the house, leaving Alpena down only 7-14.

With three minutes left in the first half, St. Johns continued to pound their heavy run-attack offense, which continued to be successful. Blemaster brought the Redwings down to the goal line, once again rushing the ball in on a QB rush from Dush.

News Photo by Steve Jakubcin A St. Johns player gets tackled by Alpena players during a football game Friday night at Wildcat Stadium in Alpena.

Alpena found itself down 21-7 going into halftime.

Although down, the Wildcats came out of the break determined, busting off another huge rushing touchdown. Donajkowski received credit for the score after running the ball for a 60-yard touchdown. Alpena failed the two-point conversion, so the score remained 13-21.

After finding promise offensively to start the second half, Jake Zann made a costly mistake, throwing an interception.

The Redwings took full advantage of that mistake, scoring again, that time on an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Blemaster.

That touchdown made the game almost out of reach for the Wildcats, then, with one final interception from Zann, Alpena’s season was over.

News Photo by Steve Jakubcin Alpena High School quarterback Jacob Zann hurls a pass while a St. Johns defensive lineman barrels down on him during Alpena’s last football game of the season on Friday night. The Wildcats lost, 28-13.

“It’s tough to go out like that, and we were obviously hoping to have a better season,” Mitchell said. “We kept this one competitive, but we just needed to find our footing earlier. These kids made a hell of an attempt, and they went and played their hearts out.”

Zann led the Wildcats in passing, completing five passes of 18 attempted. Those five completions turned into 74 yards.

Donajkowski and Eli Chism led the rushing attack. Donajkowski finished with 20 attempts for 134 yards, while Chism had nine for 24.

Alpena’s top receivers of the night were Srebnik and Carter Stark. Srebnik had three catches for 53 yards, while Stark ended on one catch for 15 yards.