By Jason Feldman

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

Too many miscues. Too many turnovers. Too much of Owatonna's three-headed rushing attack.

A gallery of photos from the game

Rochester Mayo put up a better effort against Owatonna than it did in the first meeting between the teams this season, but better wasn't enough on the Huskies' home field.

No. 4 seed Owatonna broke open a close game in the fourth quarter and defeated fifth-seeded Mayo, 35-14, in a quarterfinal game of the Section One, Class AAAAA playoffs on Tuesday.

The Huskies (6-3) ran 66 plays, compiled 291 rushing yards and 366 total yards. Collin Wencl ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns (he also had a receiving TD), Andrew Kern ran for 103, and Dylan Wondra had 67 yards on 10 carries.

The loss brings Mayo's season to a close with a 5-4 record. The Spartans regrouped nicely as a team after an 0-2 start. Their only losses in the final seven weeks came against Owatonna.

"Our turnovers really hurt us in the first half," Mayo coach Kevin Landherr said. "Defensively, we were strong. We forced them into some turnovers, but just couldn't capitalize on them.

"I'm proud of the way our kids battled. It was 21-14 (early) in the fourth ... the end result doesn't show the true game."

A sloppy first half saw both teams commit three turnovers, but neither team turned any of those takeaways into points. Instead, Owatonna built a 14-7 halftime lead by scoring on its first possession of the first and second quarters.

Sheridan Skala scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter, and he threw a 50-yard pass to Wencl in the second. In between, Adam Valen scored for Mayo on a 24-yard strike from Steve Miller.

Another Mayo miscue led to Owatonna building a two-touchdown lead late in the third quarter. A snap sailed over the head of Mayo punter Alex Heroff deep into the Mayo end. Heroff scooped it up, then attempted to punt the ball. His kick hit an Owatonna player at about the 12-yard line; Jamie Rohrig picked it up at the 5 and stepped into the end zone to make it 21-7 Huskies.

Mayo quickly fought back with a six-play drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Ethan Johnson.

Owatonna answered three plays later to push the lead to 28-14 when Wencl outran the Mayo defense for a 60-yard score. Wencl scored his third touchdown, on a 2-yard run, late in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

"Owatonna's a good team," Landherr said. "We had to play our best game, and we didn't do that tonight."

The loss ends the careers of a talented Mayo senior class, which includes receiver Tom Foote, who ends his career as the Spartans' all-time leader in receptions, with 62. His 36 catches this season are the second-most in a single season behind John Morgan's 40 in 2003.

Miller also climbed up in the Spartans' all-time passing record book. His 1,374 passing yards this season are the second-most in a season, behind Matt Penz's 1,835 in 2003.

"I'm very proud of this group," Landherr said. "As a whole, they've come a long way this year."

OWATONNA 35, MAYO 14

Mayo 7 0 0 7 -- 14

Owatonna 7 7 7 14 -- 35

First quarter

OWAT -- Sheridan Skala 2 run (Logan Busho kick) 8:04. Drive: 9 plays, 60 yards, 3:26.

MAYO -- Adam Valen 24 pass from Steve Miller (Matt Poland kick) 5:16. Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards, 2:48.

Second quarter

OWAT -- Collin Wencl 50 pass from Sheridan Skala (Busho kick) 9:41. Drive: 4 plays, 61 yards, 1:34.

Third quarter

OWAT -- Jamie Rohrig 5 punt return (Busho kick) 2:02.

Fourth quarter

MAYO -- Ethan Johnson 3 run (Poland kick) 11:56. Drive: 6 plays, 56 yards, 2:06.

OWAT -- Wencl 60 run (Busho kick) 10:57. Drive: 3 plays, 60 yards, :59.

OWAT -- Wencl 2 run (Busho kick) 4:43. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards, 4:10.

TEAM TOTALS

RM OWT

First downs 9 19

Total net yards 247 366

Comp-att-int. 15-26-1 3-8-1

Passing yards 173 75

Rushes-yards 22-74 58-291

Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-2

Penalties-yards 5-32 1-15

Punts-avg. 4-17.0 1-25.0

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING -- Mayo: Ethan Johnson 11-64, Jordan Ziegler 2-18, Steve Miller 9-(minus-8). Owatonna: Collin Wencl 23-136, Andrew Kern 16-103, Dylan Wondra 10-67.

PASSING -- Mayo: Steve Miller 15-26-1, 173 yards. Owatonna: Sheridan Skala 3-8-1, 75.

RECEIVING -- Mayo: Tom Foote 3-36, Adam Valen 5-84, Ethan Johnson 3-4, Marcus Nigbur 2-28, Alex Heroff 2-21. Owatonna: Collin Wencl 1-50, Taylor Hedberg 2-25.

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