A young HCI Mohawks football team fell behind early and was unable to recover on Friday afternoon.

The Mohawks, playing host to the Melfort Comets in their home opener, dropped a 58-14 decision at Glenn Hall Park.

"We knew we had a battle on our hands with a well-coached team coming in, and we definitely learned some lessons in this game," noted Head Coach Cory Popoff after the game. "Our boys never gave up, and we saw some positive things that we will take forward."

Melfort gained the early edge, going up 7-0, before taking a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

Humboldt was able to respond and get on the board for the first time to cut the lead to 21-7 after quarterback Carter Tarnowski found receiver Dakota Hoffman on a deep ball down the right sideline.

Just when the Mohawks appeared to finally be working their way back into the game, the Comets returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, making it 28-7. They would tack on more offence to widen their lead prior to the half.

As both teams rolled in backups throughout the second half, the Mohawks were able to find the endzone one more time, when running back Dawson Hering got the edge for a lengthy touchdown run.

Popoff says that the experience of the Comets showed up in the end result.

"We are sort of learning on the go here, as many of our players are in starting positions for the first time," he explained. "It's a process, but we have a very eager team that is willing to put in the effort to get to where they need to be."

After consecutive years of having graduating players in the double digits, the Mohawks have just three players leaving after this season.

With the loss, the Mohawks sit with a record of 0-2, with their next game coming in La Ronge against the Churchill Chargers on September 29.

"With the way the playoffs are set-up, it's an important game for us to win," said Popoff. "Our coaches will be hard at work to breakdown this past game and get ready to go for another battle."

The Mohawks next action at home comes October 6 when they host Tisdale.