Huskies crush yet another opponent
Unstoppable is probably the best way to describe the Owatonna Huskies football team. On Friday night, the team was back to the usual devouring of opponents that fans are used to by pummeling Mankato East 44-0.
The victory pushed Owatonna’s winning streak to 26 games over the past three seasons. It also lifted head coach Jeff Williams to his 180th win at Owatonna, surpassing Jerry Peterson’s total during 30 years of coaching.
Williams has put together a record of 180-71 in 24 seasons at Owatonna.
Friday’s victory was impressive on several accounts. First, the Huskies racked up 44 points. And second, Owatonna’s defense shutout Mankato East. Owatonna has outscored its opponents 318-61 this season. This was the second shutout of the year for the Huskies. The other one came against Northfield 63-0.
In Friday’s game, the Huskies dominated the entire contest. Five players scored touchdowns during the game, including Tanner Hall, Matt Williams, Solomon Havelka, Brayden Truelson and Jerez Autridge. Hall had two touchdowns in the game. Talis Alwes successfully connected on six extra point attempts.
Hall led the Huskies’ offensive attack with 190 yards of rushing. With 11 receiving yards, Hall finished the game with 201 total yards. Autridge rushed for 70 yards while Havelka chipped in with 35 yards.
The passing game belonged to Truelson who connected on 5 of 9 attempts for 55 yards. Havelka successfully threw the ball for 13 yards.
Defensively, Isaac Gefre led Owatonna with four solo tackles. Hunter Menden and Hudson Aase had one sack each in the game.
The Huskies (7-0) will take on John Marshall in Rochester tonight (Wednesday). The Rockets come into the final game of the regular season with a 3-4 record. In their last game, the Rockets killed Faribault 35-0.
Owatonna will get a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Huskies will open their quest for yet another state championship Saturday, Oct. 26 in Owatonna.
GAME SUMMARY
Huskies 44, Mankato East 0
Owatonna 14 23 0 7— 44
Mankato West 0 0 0 0— 0
PASSING Comp.-Att Yds. TD Int
Sol Havelka 2-3 13 0 0
Brayden Truelson 5-9 55 1 0
RUSHING No. Yds. Avg. TD
Tanner Hall 23 190 8.3 2
Sol Havelka 9 35 3.9 1
Brayden Truelson 2 14 7 1
Jerez Autridge 13 70 5.4 1
Cole Earles 3 29 9.7 0
RECEIVING No. Yds. Avg. TD
Payton Beyer 2 26 13 0
Matt Williams 1 14 14 1
Isaac Oppegard 2 15 7.5 0
Tanner Hall 1 11 11 0
DEFENSE Tackles Sacks Int
Isaac Gefre 4 0 0
Grant Achterkirch 2 .5 0
Keenan Young 2 0 0
Jack Titchenal 2 0 0
Matt Seykora 2 .5 0
Cole Earles 2 .5 0
Ethan Rohman 2 0 0