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PERHAM — The Osakis football team dropped a one-point game against Perham during an 8-2 season in 2021. On Friday, the Silverstreaks avenged that loss and left no doubt about it in getting a Class AAA win over the Yellowjackets.
Perham (3-3), playing out of Section 8-3A, came into the game with three wins but averaging just 16.6 points per game. The Silverstreaks stymied them all night long as Osakis went on the road and improved to 5-1 by getting the 42-0 win.
"What really stood out to me was that it wasn’t easy," Osakis head coach Bill Infanger said. "The first half was a back-and-forth grind and it felt like once we were able to punch in that first score, we just got stronger and played better as the game went on. I think the guys were resilient and kept fighting and then things started going our way a little more in the second half."
This is the second straight shutout for the Silverstreaks after beating Parkers Prairie 45-0 on Sept. 30. Outside of the 51-8 loss to Barnesville (6-0) on Sept. 23, Osakis has outscored opponents 199-19 in its five wins.
"I think our outstanding defensive play the last two weeks starts with Coach (Chris) Ludwig and the staff having a great gameplan each week, and then the guys going out and executing it," Infanger said. "We have a physical line up front led by seniors Logan Karnes, McCarter Kirksey, Ian Adolphsen, and Tyler Bailey who are beating blocks up front and creating opportunities for our linebackers behind them. I think defense starts with those guys on the line."
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The Silverstreaks led 7-0 at halftime against Perham after junior quarterback Kyle Mages connected with his brother, Grant Mages, on a 24-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Duncan Tronicke added the PAT.
A long punt return from Kyle Mages set up Osakis deep in Perham territory on its first drive of the second half. Drew Imdieke powered in a 3-yard touchdown run to cap off that opening drive and help give the Silverstreaks a 14-0 lead.
Kyle Mages added to his big night with a 37-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter.
"Kyle came through with a lot of nice plays for us this week and had a big impact on this game in all three phases, offensively, defensively and special teams," Infanger said. "Watching the game, you can see that Kyle has a lot of natural talent with length, and physicality and a great arm at quarterback, but he’s also a great teammate, a hard worker, and has a great understanding of the game."
Senior running back Tyson Hagedon scored on a 28-yard touchdown run that made it a four-possession game, and Gaven Cimbura punched in a 2-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Austin Dickenson put the exclamation point on an impressive performance for the Silverstreaks' defense with an interception in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. That led to Cimbura’s second touchdown of the night, this one from 10 yards out, to finish off the dominant win on the road.
The Silverstreaks ran for nearly 300 yards and out-gained Perham 378-87 in total offense.
Osakis will go to Barrett on Oct. 14 for a district and Section 6AA matchup against West Central Area-Ashby. The Knights are 4-2 after dropping a 45-36 game against Breckenridge (4-2) on Friday.
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"I really believe to go on the road and beat good teams you have to play clean and minimize errors," Infanger said. "You have to take care of the football, control the line of scrimmage and play good defense like we were able to do this week. WCA-Ashby has so many weapons that you have to be aware of and account for. It will take a complete team effort to go in there and give ourselves the chance to win."
OSAKIS 0 7 14 21 - 42
PERHAM 0 0 0 0 - 0
TOTALS - Osakis - First downs - 20; Rushing - 49-292; Passing - 86 yards; Total offense - 59-378; Penalties - 3-20; Perham - First downs - 3; Rushing - 18-68; Passing - 19 yards; Total offense - 30-87; Penalties - 4-39
OSAKIS - OFFENSE - PASSING - Kyle Mages - 6-10, 86 yards, TD; RECEIVING - Grant Mages - 4-52, TD; Drew Imdieke - 1-28; Mekai Hoelscher - 1-6; RUSHING - Drew Imdieke - 18-89, TD; Tyson Hagedon - 11-80, TD; Kyle Mages - 10-70, TD; Wyatt Sell - 5-29; Gaven Cimbura - 3-14, 2 TD; Kaleb Helberg - 2-10
DEFENSIVE LEADERS - Austin Dickenson - INT, 21-yard return; Wyatt Sell - fumble recovery
SPECIAL TEAMS - Duncan Tronicke - 6-6 PAT
PERHAM OFFENSE - PASSING - Blaiz Schmidt - 4-12, INT; RUSHING - Hudson Hackel - 6-30; Braylon Rach - 3-14; Schmidt - 5-15; Gage Aanenson - 2-9; Ty Rooney - 2-9; RECEIVING - Noah Thompson - 2-8; Gage Aanenson - 1-6; Braylon Rach - 1-5
