A lot of firsts were recorded for the Talawanda High School football team in its season opener last Friday as the Braves played on their new turf field, but the first win was not among them.

The Monroe Hornets weathered a solid threat from Talawanda, scored three times in the second half and went home with a 28-7 win.

First-year Talawanda coach J.D. Vonderheide said it was a learning experience for his troops and pointed out that two of Monroe’s scores were in the final seven minutes of the game.

For Talawanda, it was a disappointing finish as they entered 2012 with a new coach, new field and new league, but saw their early lead disappear.

“The tale of the night was missed opportunities,” Vonderheide said. “It’s disappointing sign for a young football team with a young coach. We had a touchdown called back, a fumble in the red zone and we were short on fourth-and-1. We were there. We just had too many mistakes. We’ll come back.”

Talawanda began the evening with a festive atmosphere to celebrate the opening of its new stadium, thanking major donors who contributed to the “Field of Dreams” campaign to make it a turf field instead of grass.

Sophomore Maurice Thomas took the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown just seconds into the new season. Vonderheide opened his bag of tricks and followed that with an on-side kick which was successful, but Monroe forced a punt on fourth-and-8.

The first touchdown on the new field on the first play on the new field was followed by the first successful on-side kick, but also the first penalty and first punt. The defense forced the first opponent’s fumble on the Hornet’s first possession that was followed soon after the first Talawanda fumble. The first opponent score came with 3:41 left in the quarter as the Hornets tied the game at 7-7, the drive helped along by a Talawanda facemask penalty.

The Hornets’ touchdown came on a 41-yard catch by Colin Wilson from quarterback Taylor Larison.

It stayed 7-7 until 58 seconds remained in the third quarter when Larison ran for a 35-yard touchdown. The extra point kick missed and it was 13-7 going into the fourth quarter.

“We were not hitting on all cylinders tonight,” Monroe coach Brett Stubbs said. “Our seniors did not do things we had to do in the first half, but we did a good job in the second half. We knew they would key on Wilson all night. The defense did a great job. The defense was awesome all night.”

The Monroe offense got the job done in the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach with two touchdowns, both by Larison. The first came with 6:47 to go in the game when the senior quarterback ran 75 yards for the score, getting caught from behind only as he crossed the goalline. His pass to Wilson was good for a two-point conversion and a 21-7 lead. Larison added a 13-yard TD run with 3:21 to go.

“We have a lot to build from. The opportunities were there,” Vonderheide said. “We’re a young team and we had as big a game as you could have. We’re close.”

Larison finished the night completing one pass in three attempts for 41 yards and an interception while Talawanda’s Colin Kimiecik was 9-of 21 for 59 yards and two interceptions.

Dakota Byrd was Talawanda’s leading rusher with 17 carries for 46 yards, and Thomas carried 10 times for 28 yards. The 81-yard opening TD kickoff return for Thomas was one of his three returns on the night; he ended with 150 kick-return yards.