Season openers are often hit and miss for the participants in terms of execution and Friday night's matchup of top-10 Division I squads Pinnacle and Red Mountain fit that description.

Pinnacle, with seasoned quarterback Brian Lewerke warming up after a slow start, took command late in the first hald and on in to the second half and dealt Red Mountain a 29-13 defeat at Red Mountain High. Both schools reached the quarterfinals last year losing to title-game finalists Hamilton and Mountain Pointe in that round. 

Lewerke a 6-foot-2, 184-pound senior who has committed to attend Michigan State, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another. His 13-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the first half put Pinnacle ahead to stay. He added his second TD pass late in the third period as the Pioneers came up with a safety and the game-turning TD after the free kick to put away the host Mountain Lions.

Pinnacle produced 341 yards of offense (191 rushing and 150 passing), but the unit sputtered much too often with penalities to make it a palatable outing for coach Dana Zupke.

"It was ugly," Zupke said. "So disappointed with (offensive) side of the ball. It was very sloppy. We didn't come close to our potential. Fortunately, Lewerke made some plays with his feet and in the air."

Motion penalties were the main culprit as Pinnacle rang up 13 yellow flags for 95 yards. Seven of those were false starts or illegal motion miscues.

Lewerke was 1-of-3 passing for 12 yards and an interception in the first period. The interception took place at Red Mountain's goal line just a couple minutes after Red Mountain took a 7-0 lead after a 16-play, 76-yard scroing drive that mixed  run and pass effectively. Red Mountain junior quarterback Kyle Buckles flipped the first of his two scoring passes -- a 4-yarder -- to Jacob Owens on a fourth-and-one to give the Mountain Lions their only lead of the game.

Lewerke's interception halted a drive that showcased some strong running by Cules Rose that moved Pinnacle near Red Mountain's red zone. Pinnacle responded to tie the game early in the second period despite a 58-yard drive hampered by four motion penalties. Lewerke capped the drive firing a perfectly thrown 40-yard TD pass to Rose with 10:45 left in the second period.

Pinnacle stopped two Red Mountain possessions later in the second period and went ahead to stay with a 66-yard drive that consumed almost the final fie minutes of the period. Penalties threatened to trash the drive, but Lewerkd converted a fourth-down throw to Gunnar Jaramillo to the Red Mountain 13. On the next play Lewerke scrambled for a 13 yards and the 14-7 lead at intermission.

Pinnacle used a safety to unleash a quick eight-point burst in 30 seconds late in the third period. A high snap left Red Mountain punter Devon Farnsworth alone inside his 15 and Farnsworth decided to kick the ball out of his end zone for two points rather than risk a Pinnacle recovery for a TD. On the ensuing free kick, Pinnacle's Aaron Roland bolted 58 yards to the Red Mountain 5. Three plays later, Lewerke hit Justin Mandrola on a 3-yard scoring toss to improve Pinnacle's lead to 22-7. Lewerke finished 13-of-26 for 150 yard and added 63 yards rushing on 11 attempts. Most of his scrambles resulted in first downs. Pinnacle's Nick Ferrara scored Pinnacle's final TD on a 2-yard run.

"Their quarterback is a heckuva player," Red Mountain coach Ron Wisniewski said. "And they're a well-coached team. He (Lewerke) is quicker than we gave him credit for and he made some plays...."

"We had our opportunities. We had guys open that got behind the defense. We either didn't make the catch or didn't make a good throw. We have to execute better."

After giving up 227 yards in the first half, Pinnacle's defense clamped down in the second until the final minute. Red Mountain totaled just 39 yards of offense in the third and fourth quarters until their final drive with a minute left resulted in a 67-yard scoring march as time expired (Buckles 12-yard TD pass to Jordan Dobbins). Buckles, who played all but a couple series in the game, was 16-of-28 for 132 yards with one interception