By Donny Henn
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

On a night when children everywhere were scoring treats by the bag full, the Rochester Century football team played the role of the most generous house on the block: The Panthers just kept giving it away.

And while the Owatonna Huskies couldn't resist what Century was giving on Halloween, by the end of the night the Panthers were left with what amounted to a lump of coal.

Owatonna capitalized on most of Century's nine turnovers on a crisp and clear night at the Rochester Regional Sports Stadium, and the fourth-seeded Huskies crushed the top-seeded Panthers 63-22 in the semifinal round of the Section One, Class AAAAA tournament.

It's the second straight year that Owatonna ended Century's season in the playoffs, and the Huskies avenged a 28-21 loss to the Panthers in the regular season.

"You're not going to win games at any level with that many turnovers," Century coach Jon Vik said. "They were our mistakes, and I'm not just talking about the quarterback; we had breakdowns and guys missing assignments all over the place."

Owatonna's defense intercepted six passes and recovered three of Century's five fumbles, and the Huskies scored six touchdowns on ensuing possessions following those turnovers.

The bad news for Century started with its very first offensive play, when senior quarterback Jared Malone suffered a dislocated thumb on his right (throwing) hand from smashing it on a helmet following an incomplete pass attempt.

Malone left the game immediately but was able to return later. In his absence, junior backup quarterback Nick Beise took over and was intercepted on Century's second possession by Owatonna linebacker Tyler Thomas, who returned it 30 yards to the Century 18.

Five plays later, Owatonna junior running back Collin Wencl scored on a 3-yard run for what was the first of his five touchdowns in the game.

The first half unraveled from there for Century. Malone returned for the Panthers' third possession, but that lasted only two plays when Owatonna recovered a fumble by Carson Fossum, Century's leading rusher. Forty-one seconds later, Owatonna scored again on another 3-yard run by Wencl.

"It made it hard to hold onto the ball, but that's not any excuse," Malone said of his thumb injury. "They just out-played us. We never quit, but we didn't respond like they did."

Malone showed he could still throw the ball on Century's fourth possession, connecting with senior receiver Ryan Forsman for a 51-yard touchdown pass that momentarily gave the Panthers some life. Malone rolled left and then lofted a perfect pass over the middle to Forsman who caught the ball in stride at the 25 yard line and ran in untouched for the score.

Century's momentum was short-lived, however. Wencl returned the ensuing kick-off 87 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.

Century's next possession never got started, as Malone was intercepted by Huskies defensive back Sheridan Skala on the first play. Owatonna needed only five plays to cover 38 yards for another Wencl touchdown, this one from 15 yards.

Wencl finished with 98 yards rushing on 23 carries, leading an Owatonna rushing attack that included 10 carriers combining for 50 rushes for 202 yards.

"There is a designed hole for (Wencl) to run through, but I would never presume to tell him where he should run," Owatonna coach Jeff Williams said of his star running back. "Whenever he has the chance to make a cut-back run, he takes it."

Williams said that the perfect playing conditions on the synthetic turf at RRSS probably played to Wencl's advantage, with his shiftiness and breakaway speed. Vik didn't think that should have been the case.

"No, I didn't think the field was to (Wencl's) advantage," Vik said. "I thought that there would be some things that we could do with our speed, and it would be a wash."

Owatonna took a 35-7 lead two minutes before halftime on its only pass completion of the game, a 53-yard scoring strike from Skala to tight end Taylor Hedberg. Skala didn't attempt a pass in the second half and finished just 1-of-3.

If Century wasn't out of it by halftime, what wind remained in the Panthers was knocked out in the early second half. Century's first three possessions resulted in two interceptions and a lost fumble. Skala returned the first interception 44 yards for a touchdown.

When it was over, Vik and Williams agreed on one thing.

"Obviously the ball just bounced our way tonight; we're not 41 points better than they are," Williams said.

"I don't feel that their team is 41 points better than ours," Vik said, "but when you look at the scoreboard, that's what it says."

Williams said his team was motivated by the regular-season loss to Century. The Huskies had a 21-0 lead in that game, but couldn't hold it.

"I think our kids were really relishing the opportunity to come out and show we're a better football team than we showed in that game at the end of September," he said.

The Century players took the loss hard. They were consoling each other on the field long after the game ended. The Panthers finished with a 7-2 record, and Malone said that was a better measure of the team's success.

"We're not going to let one game define our season," he said. "We were supposed to be a .500 team and we proved a lot of people wrong.

"It's not the way we pictured it ending, but I'm pround of our season."

OWATONNA 63, CENTURY 22

Owatonna 14 21 21 7 -- 63

Century 0 7 0 15 -- 22

FIRST QUARTER

O -- Collin Wencl 3 run (Logan Busho kick), 4:23.

Drive: 4 plays, 18 yards, 1:35 elapsed time. Key play: Owatonna LB Tyler Thomas returned interception 30 yards to Century 18.

O -- Wencl 3 run (Busho kick), 2:51.

Drive: 7 plays, 32 yards, :41. Key play: Owatonna DB Mitch Hawkins recovered Century fumble at Century 32.

SECOND QUARTER

C -- Ryan Forsman 51 pass from Jared Malone (Tate Dison kick), 10:19.

Drive: 5 plays, 63 yards, 1:49. Key play: Scoring pass.

O -- Wencl 87 kickoff return (Busho kick), 10:06.

O -- Wencl 15 run (Busho kick), 7:33.

Drive: 5 plays, 38 yards, 2:16. Key play: Owatonna DB Sheridan Skala returned interception 14 yards to Century 26.

O -- Taylor Hedberg 53 pass from Skala (Busho kick), 1:50.

Drive: 2 plays, 53 yards, :35. Key play: Scoring pass.

THIRD QUARTER

O -- Skala 44 interception return (Busho kick), 10:21.

O -- Wencl 6 run (Busho kick), 8:35.

Drive: 4 plays, 14 yards, 1:57. Key play: Owatonna LB J.C. Rogers recovered Century fumble at Century 14.

O -- Dylan Wondra 22 run (Busho kick), 1:08.

Drive: 1 play, 22 yards, :26. Key play: Owatonna LB Will VanDuzer returned interception 15 yards to Century 22.

FOURTH QUARTER

C -- Forsman 15 pass from Malone (Fossum run), 9:49.

Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, 2:55. Key play: Forsman 29 pass from Malone moved ball to Owatonna 28.

O -- Micky Kyei 2 run (Busho kick), 7:57.

Drive: 4 plays, 52 yards, 1:51. Key play: Jesse Ebeling 44 run moved ball to Century 8.

C -- Dan Fleissner 9 pass from Nick Beise (Kris Sveum pass from Dison), 2:18.

Drive: 3 plays, 37 yards, 1:28. Key play: Kyle Menkosky 28 pass from Malone moved ball to Owatonna 9.

Owatonna Century

First downs 8 8

Total Net Yards 259 241

Rushes-yards 50-206 29-39

Passing 53 202

Comp-Att-Int 1-3-0 13-27-6

Punts-Avg. 2-39.0 2-43.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-3

Penalties-Yards 3-40 4-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Owatonna, Collin Wencl 23 carries for 98 yards, 4 TDs, Jesse Ebeling 2-44, Dylan Wondra 5-37, 1TD, Andrew Kern 5-22, Micky Kyei 4-12, 1 TD, Jon Zuniga 2-6, Preston Burns 2-3, Matt Simon 1-0, Syd Simon 1-(-1), Sheridan Skala 5-(-15). Century, Jared Malone 16-21, Carson Fossum 8-18, Mitchell Brown 1-1, Chad Zastrow 4-(-1).

PASSING -- Owatonna, Sheridan Skala 1 completion, 3 attempts, 53 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions. Century, Jared Malone 9-21-152-2-5, Nick Beise 4-6-50-1-1.

RECEIVING -- Owatonna, Taylor Hedberg 1 reception for 53 yards, 1 TD. Century, Ryan Forsman 4-111, 2 TDs, Kyle Menkosky 3-39, Dan Fleissner 3-24, 1 TD. Kris Sveum 2-12, Mike Hanson 1-16.

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