Football: Osakis runs over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle

• Johnson

Osakis senior Hunter Johnson (right) raced down the sideline as LPGE’s Preston Pung tried to catch up during the Silverstreaks’ win over the Thunder last Friday night. Johnson broke off a lot of long runs that night on his way to a team-high 188 yards on just 12 carries. (Echo Press photo by Eric Morken)

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Allowing four scoring plays of more than 40 yards is usually a recipe for disaster, unless of course, a team can counter with almost 500 yards rushing.

That’s exactly how things played out last Friday night as Osakis overcame some breakdowns on defense to move to 2-1 with a 41-28 win over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. All 498 total yards for the Silverstreaks came on the ground as Drew Fearing, Brian Thorstad and Hunter Johnson all rushed for more than 100 yards.

“It’s great anytime you feel like you can hand the ball off to any one of three kids and feel they have the potential to give you a big play,” head coach Bill Infanger said. “That’s a luxury in Class A football, and we’re lucky to have those three guys. Then those three guys will be the first ones to tell you they have a great line in front of them.”

Osakis never trailed in the game. Thorstad set the tone early when he busted a 42-yard touchdown run on the team’s first possession; the first of two scores for the senior back who finished with 162 yards on 26 carries.

That wasn’t even enough to lead the team in rushing on this night. Johnson ran for 188 yards on just 12 carries. Fearing added two touchdowns and 112 yards on nine touches.

The Silverstreaks ran for 191 yards in their season-opening loss at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. They have put up 892 yards on the ground in the two games since then.

“At certain points, [the run game] is going as good [as it was last year],” Thorstad said. “But I think it could be better.”

Osakis knows it needs to improve going on defense. The Thunder ran for 248 yards themselves and had multiple big plays on the option all night. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle’s scoring plays on offense came from 50, 67 and 47 yards out. The Thunder also used a long fumble return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

The Silverstreaks did come up with one of the biggest plays of the night on the defensive side of the ball though. Osakis was leading by just seven with less than a minute left in the half and had just fumbled the ball inside the LPGE 10-yard line.

On the first play after the turnover, LPGE quarterback Tommy Geisenhof made a late pitch to running back Preston Pung. Osakis’ Austin Rollag read it perfectly and was there to deliver a big hit that knocked the ball loose and into the end zone. Trey Erie fell on it to give Osakis a 27-14 lead.

The Thunder got back within a touchdown on its first possession of the third quarter, but could never contain Osakis’ ground game to sustain any momentum. Fearing scored his first of two touchdowns in the second half from 18 yards out. He then put the game away when he scored from seven yards out to make it 41-20.

Osakis will face United North Central on the road tonight, Friday. The Warriors have been outscored 117-20 on their way to a 0-3 start to the season.

After a shaky start themselves, the Silverstreaks will try to build on the opportunity to improve to 2-0 in the Prairie North standings.

“We’re really playing as a family,” Rollag said. “We’ve been pushing that a lot these last two weeks in practice; trust each other, play as a family and work hard. That’s how we’re going to win the game. That’s the way we played last year, and it worked.”

GAME STATISTICS

LPGE 6 8 6 8 – 28

OSAKIS 21 6 7 7 – 41

TOTALS – Osakis – First downs – 23; Rushing – 498; Passing – 2-3, 0 yards; Total plays – 66; Fumbles lost – 2; Penalties – 7-62; LPGE – First downs – 10; Rushing – 248; Passing – 2-8, 15 yards; Total plays – 39; Total offense – 263; Fumbles lost – 2; Penalties – 5-46

OSAKIS OFFENSE – Passing – Jordan Frederick – 2-3, 9 yards; Fearing – 0-0, -9 yards; Rushing – Frederick – 5-1, TD; Tyler Spanswick – 3-2; Fearing – 9-112, 2 TD; Trey Erie – 4-27; Johnson – 12-188; Thorstad – 26-162, 2 TD; Wyatt Olson – 2-11; Hunter Scherr – 1-(-5); Receiving – Fearing – 2-9

DEFENSE – Lane Berberich – 2 tackles; Kilar Zimmel – 2 tackles, 1 TFL; Spanswick – 8 tackles, 2 TFL; Fearing – 6 tackles, 1 TFL; Erie – 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovered, TD; Johnson – 7 tackles; Thorstad – 3 tackles, 2 sacks; Olson – 1 tackle; Rollag – 10 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 forced fumble; Derrick Swanson – 3 tackles; Garret Scherr – 8 tackles; Peter Hagen – 2 tackles; Lane Arkfeld – 5 tackles

SPECIAL TEAMS – Extra point – Ricardo Giordano – 5-6

Tags: osakis sports, sports, silverstreaks, football