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MEMORIES & MOMENTS I Week 3

09/14/2022, 12:00am CDT
By Jon Weisbrod

Jon Weisbrod's weekly look at what happened with the Huskies in previous seasons.

MEMORIES & MOMENTS I Week 3

IN WEEK 3 OF THE 2013 SEASON, the eventual state champion Huskies allowed the most points against any single opponent during the 2012 regular season on a night where Aaron Peterson ran wild. Hosting an Owatonna team that had routinely had its starters resting by the middle of the third quarter during a dominant stretch of play dating back to the beginning of the 2010 campaign, the pesky Packers bounced back from an early deficit and routinely side-stepped the Huskies’ knockout blow in what would transform into a 49-26 decision at Art Hass Field. Thanks to its unique, wide open offensive sets and trio of athletic receivers, Austin took advantage of a few uncharacteristic OHS turnovers and traded blows with the powerful Huskies for a significant portion of the contest. After Owatonna opened a 28-0 lead at the 3:58-mark of the second quarter, the Packers finally got on the board on the ensuing possession and ignited a chaotic two-plus quarter stretch of action that saw Austin out-score Owatonna 26-21 from the remainder of the contest. Unfortunately for Austin, its defense simply wasn’t equipped to consistently stop a team of Owatonna’s caliber and allowed Peterson to gash them for 297 rushing yards and five touchdowns. In the second half, it was a situation where the Packers’ offense would take the field in relief of its exhausted defense, score a quick touchdown, fire up the crowd, kick the ball off, put its defense back on the field, watch as Owatonna silenced the crowd with a quick score, see its beleaguered defense limp back to the sideline, and repeat.

MEMORIES & MOMENTS I Hosting the Scarlets

AGAINST MANKATO WEST AT THE OHS STADIUM ON FRIDAY, OCT. 4, 2019, top-ranked Owatonna found itself staring at its largest deficit in nearly three calendar years, but turned things around in the nick of time to complete a memorable comeback. After the No. 8-ranked Scarlets extended their lead to 10 points with a touchdown less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Huskies buckled down and made several key plays on both sides of the ball to fuel a 14-0 rally to end the game. Tanner Hall manufactured one of his finest individual rushing efforts in two years as the team’s starting tailback by scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 50 yards in the fourth quarter alone, finding the end zone from 10 yards out to provide the game-deciding points with exactly 99 seconds on the clock. The Huskies’ defense put the finishing touches on the thrilling 24-20 victory by forcing four consecutive incomplete passes on the ensuing West possession.

MEMORIES & MOMENTS I 5 Years ago, entering Week 3

ENTERING WEEK 3 OF THE 2017 SEASON, Owatonna already appeared at full throttle after scoring a combined 107 points in its high-flying 2-0 start. Not to be outdone, the OHS defense had also flexed its considerable muscles in the first two outings, allowing just one touchdown — a 40-yard pass to Rochester Mayo in Week 2 — in eight combined quarters on the field. In his first season as the team’s unquestioned starter from Day 1, quarterback Abe Havelka had taken his game to a completely new level to begin his senior campaign and had already fired nine touchdown passes despite sitting out three combined quarters in a pair of blowout wins.

MEMORIES & MOMENTS I 10 Years ago, entering Week 3

ENTERING WEEK 3 OF THE 2012 SEASON, Owatonna was 2-0 and preparing for a high-profile Week 3 showdown with fellow undefeated conference adversary, Rochester John Marshall. In a matchup billed as one of the most highly-anticipated early-season Big Nine Conference games in recent history, the Huskies — fresh off a trip to the 2011 Prep Bowl — would be in for a huge test against a Rockets’ team that had earned a lofty No. 5 ranking in the initial Class 5A state poll released just two days prior to the contest. Both teams came into the game averaging almost exactly the same number of points (38) and had permitted just three total touchdowns in 16 combined quarters of action. Owatonna’s resumé included a 21-14 victory over Chanhassen and a 56-0 blowout of Albert Lea, both of which came at the OHS stadium. Conversely, John Marshall had played its first two games on the road and collected a 45-12 win over Century and a 30-7 drubbing of Winona.

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