Lincoln's K.J. Osborn makes a catch during the first half Friday night against Belleville.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com

Updated at 11:30 p.m.

Lincoln had a poor week of practice leading up to its season opener, and on Thursday head coach Chris Westfall warned his team the mistakes could creep their way into the game.

They did, but only for 12 minutes.

Lincoln overcame some first-quarter jitters to pull away from Belleville and take its season opener, 30-9 Friday night at Railsplitter Field.

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The Railsplitters fumbled on their second play from scrimmage and recorded only 20 yards of offense in the opening frame.

“The first half we were definitely nervous, we weren’t moving the ball that well, had some turnovers, three-and-outs to begin with,” Railsplitters quarterback Eugene Smith said.

But the Railsplitters put up 30 points in the final three frames behind a strong passing attack, while the defense stopped multiple Tigers drives deep in its own territory.

Lincoln fumbled on its first drive and went three and out on its next two. But it broke through late in the first, when K.J. Osborn caught two passes for 40 yards, and Dalauren Roberson scored on a run from three yards out.

Smith padded his team’s lead in the second quarter, when on 4th-and-11 he hit Lazon Hicks for a 27-yard touchdown pass.

Friday marked Smith’s first varsity game, after he quarterbacked the JV team last year. He finished 13-for-22 for 160 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

“He’s been like that all fall, he’s been really good with the ball, making good decisions with the ball,” Westfall said.

And he benefited from a talented receiver group, led by Osborn's seven catches for 69 yards.

“It’s definitely a lot easier to throw to a guy that’s my height,” the 6-foot-3 Smith said.

On his first carry of the game, Belleville’s JaVonn Gamble rumbled 48 yards to the house early in the second half, breaking multiple tackles along the way. The play was set up by a Lincoln personal foul.

The touchdown brought the Tigers to within six points early in the second half. But they didn’t score again the rest of the night, as the Lincoln defense stopped seven Belleville drives on their own half of the field.

“It was really good for the defense, considering they were on their own side of the 50 all night,” Westfall.

Things looked dicey for Lincoln when four plays into the ensuing drive, Belleville’s Eric Counts recorded an interception. But Lincoln took advantage of a bad punt snap and took over once again on the Belleville 31.

Five plays later, Smith found Osborn for a 15-yard touchdown pass over the middle, with Osborn stretching across the goal line for the score to put the Railsplitters up 23-9 late in the third.

With five minutes left, the Railsplitters again benefitted from a bad punt snap. This one gave the Railsplitters the ball on Belleville’s 24-yard-line, and two plays later Smith brought the ball in from six yards out.

Belleville drove down to the Lincoln 6-yard line with three minutes left, before Lincoln’s Jeff Stokes forced a fumble on a devastating hit from behind and Lincoln ran the clock down until less than two minutes remained.

Lincoln moves on to take on Huron next week.

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.