Late touchdown sends Huskies to section finals
Owatonna defenders Max Flemke, left, Darian Stransky (21), and Zach Haarstad (81) work together to tackle New Prague’s quarterback. The Owatonna defense held New Prague to just seven points – the seventh time this season the Huskies have held opponents to seven or less points. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
The No. 1-seeded Owatonna Huskies avoided disaster last weekend when the team beat No. 4 New Prague 14-7 thanks to a late touchdown by running back Tristan Graham with under a minute left to play.
The 8-0 Huskies came in a major favorite to beat the 3-6 Trojans, but New Prague’s physical style of play proved troublesome for Owatonna, similar to the first time the two teams squared off in September.
“They took away some of the underneath things that we thought would be available and kind of dared us to go up top. We didn’t have much success doing that. Most of our throws down the field ended up being overthrown or picked. They did some really nice things defensively that gave us some trouble,” said Owatonna Head Coach Jeff Williams on the New Prague defense.
Owatonna looked primed for another big showing after scoring its first touchdown of the game on a seven-yard flat-route connection between quarterback Hunter Theis and fullback Blake Fitcher with 4:42 left in the first quarter, but the scoring stopped abruptly afterward.
Neither side could create any momentum on offense, meanwhile, both defenses battled to keep their team’s section championship hopes alive.
Owatonna finished the first quarter leading 7-0 and held its lead until just before halftime when the Trojans pieced together their best drive of the night.
Despite being a run-heavy offense, New Prague’s best success came through the air against the Huskies and with 1:07 remaining in the half, the Trojans connected on a 28-yard passing touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
Owatonna tried to answer the score with another of its own, but a red zone pick from Theis with 11 seconds left stopped all momentum for the home side, and sent the two teams into halftime tied.
The second half was another slow offensive start for each team, but ultimately it was Owatonna that moved the ball into scoring position first.
The Huskies set up for a 31-yard field goal – well within kicker Seth Johnson’s range – but a Trojans edge rusher blocked the attempt to deny Owatonna the score.
Owatonna got a quick stop on defense and moved the ball inside the Trojans 20-yard line with just over eight minutes to go, but another costly interception kept the Huskies off the board.
This time, New Prague used the turnover to threaten on offense, but a fourth-and-eight passby the Trojans at the Huskies’ 27-yard line was swatted away by defensive back Luke Webber for a turnover on downs.
Webber’s pass break-up gave Owatonna the ball back in its own half, and despite there being little time left on the clock, Williams turned to Graham to be the team’s leader in the late stages of the game.
Graham was fed a steady dosage of carries as time melted off the clock and with 59 seconds left, he found the endzone on an 11-yard rush to seal the game for Owatonna.
The Huskies’ 14-7 win earned the team a trip to the section championship game on Friday, Nov. 1 for a rematch with No. 2 Rochester John Marshall.
Owatonna recently beat the Rockets 32-22 in comeback fashion on the road earlier this month.
The section championship game will be held at Federated Field at 7 p.m.
Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
New Prague |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Owatonna |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
14 |
Player Stats
Passing
#7 Hunter Theis – 13-23 163 yards 1 TD 3 int.
Rushing
#20 Tristan Graham – 33 att. 200 yards 1 TD; #7 Theis – 5 att. 14 yards; #3 Nolan Ginskey – 1 att. -6 yards
Receiving
#3 Ginskey – 8 rec. 120 yards; #20 Graham – 2 rec. 21 yards; #11 Luke Webber – 2 rec. 15 yards; #10 Blake Fitcher – 1 rec. 7 yards 1 TD