Huskies are headed back to state
The Owatonna Huskies pose for a photo with their Section 1AAAAA Championship Trophy after beating Northfield 35-6 at home. The Huskies will kick off against St. Thomas Academy at noon on Saturday, Nov. 11 for the quarterfinal round of the Class AAAAA state tournament at Woodbury High School. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
The Owatonna Huskies punched their ticket to the Class AAAAA state tournament by beating Northfield 35-6 in the Section 1AAAAA championship game tonight.
Northfield owned momentum for the first few minutes after recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff, but Owatonna quickly shut down the visiting Raiders’ early hopes with an interception and never looked back.
“We stopped them, got the ball in good field position and immediately answered. It was critical,” said Owatonna Head Coach Jeff Williams in regards to the opening sequence.
Northfield’s opening drive after recovering the kickoff on the fumble ended with a stellar leaping interception by the Huskies’ Nolan Ginskey.
Fast forward minutes later and it was Ginskey again coming up with a huge play, this time on a 58-yard touchdown reception from his brother, Owatonna quarterback Jacob Ginskey.
The score put the Huskies up 7-0 with 6:39 left in the first quarter.
A couple of strong defensive stands kept the 7-0 scoreline intact following the touchdown before the Huskies finally broke through again on another passing score, this time on a 12-yard hookup between Ginskey and wide receiver Owen Beyer.
Owatonna’s defense kept the Raiders off the scoreboard through the second quarter as well, and managed to get the ball back to the offense with just under four minutes remaining in the half.
Ginskey led the Huskies’ fast-paced offense down the field and put the finishing touches on another scoring drive by plunging in on a quarterback sneak from one yard out.
The score would remain at 21-0 in favor of Owatonna at the half.
Northfield returned to action in the third quarter with a quick 41-yard passing touchdown from quarterback Seth Thompson to utility player Kamden Kaiser, but the point-after attempt was blocked by the Huskies to keep the score at 21-6.
Owatonna went on to answer with another touchdown of its own on the ensuing drive thanks to a 12-yard rush by running back Brennan Sletten.
Sletten followed up his score with another touchdown at the 5:47 mark of the fourth quarter to ice the game at 35-6.
With the win, Owatonna will move on to play St. Thomas Academy in the first game of the Class AAAAA state tournament on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Woodbury High School.
The Huskies will kick off against the Cadets at 12 p.m.