The Osakis football team will carry a lot of momentum into homecoming this Friday night after the Silverstreaks won their third straight game in convincing fashion at United North Central last week.
Osakis has gotten off to fast starts in the last two weeks and it was no different against the Warriors. The Silverstreaks forced a three-and-out on the first possession. Senior running back Brian Thorstad then took a handoff 40 yards for a touchdown on his team’s second play from scrimmage. That set the tone as Osakis went on to win 35-8 to move to 3-1 on the year.
“With the exception of a handful of plays, this was the more disciplined defensive game that we were looking for as a coaching staff,” head coach Bill Infanger said. “We need to continue that improvement this week in our homecoming game against Wadena.”
The Osakis defense allowed just 178 total yards, a week after allowing a lot of big scoring plays against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. The Silverstreaks were especially stingy on the ground where they held UNC to 61 yards rushing. That allowed the Warriors to gain just six first downs all night.
Osakis countered with another dominant night rushing the football. Thorstad finished with two touchdowns and 183 yards to lead the way as the Silverstreaks finished with 373 total yards on the ground.
Hunter Johnson recorded his second straight 100-yard game as well as he finished with 101 yards on 16 carries. Johnson added two touchdowns on the night, while quarterback Jordan Frederick punched in another.
Osakis used that ground game to open things up after leading by just six at the break. The Silverstreaks took over after halftime, scoring three unanswered touchdowns to take complete control of the game. Thorstad and Johnson each punched one in before Frederick put the finishing touches on things in the fourth quarter.
“I was proud of the way our team executed in the second half,” Infanger said. “UNC played with a lot of emotion and had momentum going into the second half. For us to play that well in the second half of a game on the road, in that cold, wet weather really shows our improvement from where we were in our week one loss on the road.”
The defense was something Infanger wanted to shore up after his team’s win over LPGE in week three and they did that against the Warriors. Sophomore Tyler Spanswick led that effort with 11 tackles, including being in on three tackles for a loss and a sack. Junior Lane Arkfeld and senior Garret Scherr finished with eight tackles, while Austin Rollag added seven.
“Tyler Spanswick has been a great addition to the defense, leading the team in tackles in just his second game of the year,” Infanger said. “Seniors Austin Rollag, Garret Scherr, along with Lane Arkfeld, also had strong games defensively.”
They will try to carry that over and finish off homecoming week with their fourth straight win on Friday night. The Silverstreaks will welcome in a 2-2 Wadena-Deer Creek team that just beat LPGE 52-36 in week four.
GAME STATISTICS
OSAKIS 14 0 6 15 – 35
UNC 0 8 0 0 – 8
TEAM TOTALS – Osakis – First downs – 20; Rushing – 373 yards; Passing – 1-2, 10 yards; Total plays – 60; Total offense – 383; Fumbles lost – 1; Penalties – 6-59; Third downs – 6-11; Fourth downs – 1-1; UNC – First downs – 6; Rushing – 61; Passing – 8-24, 117 yards; Total plays – 43; Total offense – 178; Penalties – 5-35; Fumbles lost – 0; Third downs – 2-11; Fourth downs – 0-3
OSAKIS – OFFENSE – Passing – Frederick – 1-2, 18 yards; Receiving – Drew Fearing – 1-18; Rushing – Frederick – 4-11, TD; Fearing – 10-35; Trey Erie – 1-6; Johnson – 16-101, 2 TD; Thorstad – 25-183, 2 TD
DEFENSE – Zimmel – 2 tackles; Spanswick – 11 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack; Seth Newman – 1 tackle; Fearing – 2 tackles; Erie – 2 tackles; Johnson – 3 tackles; Rollag – 7 tackles; Derrick Swanson – 1 tackle; Scherr – 8 tackles; Peter Hagen – 5 tackles, 1 TFL; Arkfeld – 8 tackles, 2 TFL; Joseph Kotek – 2 tackles
SPECIAL TEAMS – Punt return – Zimmel – 1-11; Punting – Zimmel – 2-72, 37 long; Kickoff - Ricardo Giordano – 6-177, 50 long; Extra points – Giordano – 3-3
Tags: osakis sports, sports, silverstreaks, football
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