Osakis football: Turnovers doom Silverstreaks

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The Osakis football team couldn’t overcome five turnovers in its season opener last Thursday as the Silverstreaks fell 18-8 against Prairie Conference foe Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

The Saints and Silverstreaks played to a scoreless tie through two quarters but two interceptions and three lost fumbles made a win all but impossible for Osakis in the end. One of those fumbles came inside the KMS 10-yard line as senior captain Brian Thorstad was stripped of the ball while fighting for more yards on second and goal in the second quarter.

“I really think that was the play of the game,” head coach Bill Infanger said. “At that point neither team had really established anything, and we were able to put a nice drive together. Had we been able to punch that in, the game is completely different from an emotional standpoint. I got to give credit to the KMS players for playing tough and stripping the ball down there.”

The Saints built a 12-0 lead in the fourth quarter after Jordan Rothers scored his second touchdown of the night. Both of those touchdowns came after Osakis gave the ball back to KMS on fumbles. Rothers had an impressive opening night as he ran for a game-high 148 yards on 25 carries.

Osakis got back within a touchdown thanks to a long run by Thorstad. He busted off a 59-yard touchdown run off the right side that made it 12-8 after a Hunter Johnson two-point conversion. The Saints answered on their next possession as Simon Johnson capped off a 70-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes.

The Saints did a good job of holding down an Osakis running game that ran for 342 yards against them a year ago. The Silverstreaks were held to less than 200 yards on the ground this time around as Thorstad led the way with 93 yards.

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg countered by putting up 254 yards on the ground. That helped them secure the win despite completing just two passes for 17 yards. Junior Jordan Frederick was 3-for-8 passing the ball for Osakis in his first start under center.

The Silverstreaks will try to put this loss behind them when they open up the home portion of their schedule this Friday. Osakis welcomes in New York Mills for a 7 p.m. kickoff after the Eagles lost 33-15 to a in their season opener on Thursday.

GAME SUMMARY

OSAKIS 0 0 0 8 – 8

KMS 0 0 6 12 – 18

OSAKIS – Rushing – Brian Thorstad – 12-93, TD; Drew Fearing – 8-58; Hunter Johnson – 11-40; Passing – Frederick – 3-8, 44 yards, 2 interceptions; Receiving – Ki Zimmel – 1-28

DEFENSE – Austin Rollag – 20 tackles

Tags: osakis sports, sports, silverstreaks, football