MANKATO &045; It was about midway through the opening quarter when Stephen Thorn scooped up the football.

Seventy yards later he was in the end zone, and the Albert Lea Tigers celebrated.

It was the only time they’d get to do it.

Thorn’s fumble return for a touchdown accounted for the Tigers’ lone points in a 53-6 season-opening loss at Mankato West Friday night.

&uot;It’s definitely not what we were looking for coming out, not the way we wanted to start the season,&uot; said Albert Lea head coach Jeff Marty. &uot;But, it’s the first game, there’s a lot of season left. We just have to regroup.&uot;

The Scarlets, meanwhile, looked like they could be a threat to repeat as the Class 4A state champions. Their quarterback, 6-foot-3, 170-pound senior Jordan Stolp, was particularly impressive while throwing three touchdown passes and kicking six extra points.

&uot;Stolp is a good athlete, and they have some pretty nice team speed there,&uot; said Marty. &uot;We didn’t play our best, but hats off to Mankato West. Time will tell how far they go, but it looks like they have a real solid ball club there.&uot;

The Tigers’ opening drive netted 4 yards on three plays.

Drew Hood, a star in last year’s state championship game, swept left for 13 yards on the Scarlets’ first play. Two plays later, on third and 4, it looked like the Tigers had Hood stopped for a loss, but he broke free and shed at least two more tackles while going 25 yards for a touchdown. Stolp’s PAT kick made it 7-0 with 9:30 left in the first quarter.

Another three-and-out gave West good field position again, on the Albert Lea 37.

Again a Scarlet ball carrier broke into the Albert Lea secondary, but this time the ball popped loose and Thorn, a senior co-captain, picked it up and rambled 70 yards up the Tiger sideline to the end zone. The PAT kick was blocked, and it was 7-6 with 7:27 on the clock.

Then Stolp showed off his arm, lofting a pretty spiral on second-and-5 to Denerio Hill, who made a nice catch to complete a 31-yard play to the Albert Lea 15. Three plays later Stolp fired a bullet to Isaak Mees in the back of the end zone. His PAT kick made it 14-6 at the 4:50 mark.

West’s next scoring drive &045; like its first &045; included a play that could have turned the tide. This time it came on fourth-and-7, when a Stolp pass was apparently trapped by Lewis Radcliff but was ruled a catch. Hood swept left for 13 yards and a touchdown on the next play.

The ensuing kickoff was short and bounced high and the Tigers failed to field it. The Scarlets did not, and took over on the Albert Lea 22.

On the first play, Stolp and Dan Ryan connected on a nice throw and catch that covered 22 yards and ended in the end zone. The PAT failed when the snap from center was high, and West led 27-6 with 11:20 left before halftime.

The Tigers’ picked up their initial first downs of the game on their next possession, one via penalty and the other on a 12-yard pass from Zach Marty to Ross Habben, but it also ended with a punt.

The Tigers forced West’s first punt of the night and, on a Habben run, got another first down before punting.

After a sack of Stolp by Randy Larson, Hood cut back across the grain and scooted 57 yards for an apparent touchdown &045; but a penalty nullified it. It remained 27-6 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Stolp threw a 32-yard scoring pass to Mees, the Scarlets got a safety when a snap in punt formation went through the back of the end zone, and Stolp kicked a field goal.

Sophomore running backs Dan Toole and Chase Brown ran for fourth-quarter touchdowns for West.

Thorn, who alternated with Zach Marty at quarterback, was the Tigers’ leading rusher with 38 yards on six carries, with Ryan Truesdell right behind with 37 yards on 15 attempts. Habben ran 11 times for 27 yards.

The Tigers totaled 114 yards, 101 of them rushing, and had seven first downs.

Albert Lea faces Owatonna in its home opener this Friday at 7 at Hammer Field. The Huskies lost their opener 48-7 to Rochester Mayo.