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The North Middle School Gators lost to the Tullahoma Wildcats 46-12 on the road Tuesday for their second loss of the season.

The Gators held an early lead and kept the score relatively close throughout the first half, but the Wildcats pulled away after halftime to give them the loss.

North head football coach Chuck Reed said that his team struggled with tackling for the second week in a row and added that the biggest issues stemmed from not being able to contain the Wildcats on the outside edges of the line of scrimmage.

The Gators started the contest with the ball and scored a touchdown on their opening possession with Easton Brandon breaking off a long scoring run to make it a 6-0 game less than two minutes after kickoff.

The Wildcats answered back quickly on their first drive as a touchdown run and a two-point conversion put the Gators behind 8-6 with five minutes left in the opening period.

The high-scoring start continued as North quarterback Colson Kelley found Mason Isbell with a deep touchdown pass down the field to put the Gators back ahead by a score of 12-8 with three minutes to go in the opening period.

The Gators then forced a turnover on downs to stop a Tullahoma drive that ended inside of their 20-yard line, but an interception on the ensuing North possession gave the ball back to the Wildcats.

The Wildcats followed up with a 36-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage to retake the lead at 16-12.

The Gators turned the ball over on downs on their next possession after being pushed back to their own 17-yard line, and the Wildcats scored another touchdown a few plays later to make it a 22-12 game.

The Wildcats attempted to score one more time late in the half with a deep pass down the field, but Isbell intercepted the ball to keep the deficit at 10 points.

The Gators trailed 22-12 at halftime.

The Wildcats added touchdowns on all three of their possessions for the second half to stretch the deficit up to more than 30 points while the Gators turned the ball over on downs and punted the ball away during their drives in between.

The Gators were able to move the ball deep into enemy territory on their final possession, but time ran before they could score again as they lost by 34.

With the loss, the Gators moved to 0-2 on the season.

They will next play Tuesday at home against Bridgeforth Middle School. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.