CEDARVILLE — A game-opening 65-yard touchdown that was nullified by a penalty set a woeful course for the Superior Central Cougars here Thursday night.

Cedarville posted a 36-12 victory in the Great Lakes Eight Conference East Division football game. Both teams are now 1-1.

“That first penalty absolutely took the wind out of our sails,” said SC coach Sam Eggleston. “We stopped them on their first possession, then we scored and every one was cheering and fired up. It took the whole quarter to recover from that.”

By that time the Trojans had established a 14-0 lead, scoring twice in a span of two minutes. They padded the advantage to 20-0 with 9:48 left in the first half.

“It seemed like we were (playing) in the mud the whole first quarter,” said Eggleston, whose team stunned reigning Division 2 state eight-player champion Crystal Falls Forest Park in its opener.

“Had it (the TD play) stood, our momentum would have carried over from the first game,” said Eggleston. “We just couldn’t get our heads on straight after that.”

The Cougars did rally before the intermission, as Rouben Fink had scoring runs of three and 46 yards, the longer one coming with 1:13 left in the first half to draw within 20-12.

Fink ran for 151 yards on 15 carries and Beau Rondeau added 84 yards on 13 tries. The Cougars, who were efficient passing against CFFP, hit just 6-of-16 throws for 54 yards.

More problems struck the Cougars in the third quarter when they lost a fumble a yard shy of the end zone. “It was supposed to be a fake to our halfback but the ball hit the shoulder pads and popped out,” said Eggleston. “We really felt like we were about to score and tie the game. We felt the momentum was definitely in our favor at that point. Our heads just hung at that point.”

The Trojans put the game out of reach with two touchdowns in the final 7:25.

Linebacker-defensive end D.J. Johns had 10 tackles, Noah Groulx had eight tackles and Rondeau had seven tackles. Jack Rondeau intercepted a pass.

The Cougars travel to Ontonagon Sept. 7.