Owatonna 17, Kasson-Mantorville 14
OWATONNA — Drew Henson kicked a 35-yard field goal with 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to lift Owatonna to a dramatic Big Southeast District victory against Kasson-Mantorville on Wednesday in the regular season finale for both teams.
Owatonna and K-M both finish the regular season 5-3.
Owatonna will open play in the Section 1AAAAA playoffs next week; it will likely receive the No. 2 seed in the section and a first-round bye.
K-M is expected to receive the No. 2 seed in the Section 1AAAA, which carries a first-round bye with it.
Wednesday, the teams traded the ball and the lead several times before Henson's leg finally sealed the victory for the Huskies.
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Grant Achterkirch scored on a 43-yard run in the second quarter to put Owatonna up 14-6, but K-M answered and tied the score 14-14 with 4:45 to play in the third, when Gavin Giesler pulled in a highlight-reel catch on a pass from Matt Donovan on a fourth-and-11 play, then Donovan weaved into the end zone for a two-point converstion.
Broc Barwald got K-M on the board first by pulling away from Owatonna's defense for an 86-yard scoring run in the second quarter.
Owatonna answered on the ensuing kickoff when Noah Wellnitz returned it 76 yards for a score; the PAT kick gave Owatonna a 7-6 lead.
No individual statistics or team totals were available.
OWATONNA 17, KASSON-MANTORVILLE 14
Kasson-Mantorville 0-6-8-0 — 14
Owatonna 0-14-0-3— 17
Austin 45, Albert Lea 6
A 28-point second quarter and some stellar team defense helped the Packers pick up their first win of the season over the Tigers (0-8).
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Led by three first half rushing touchdowns from Joseph Walker, Austin (1-7) put up 28 points in the second quarter to go up 28-0. Jack Lang found Manny Guy for a 13-yard TD pass with two seconds left in the first half. Walker finished with 84 yards rushing on 12 carries.
The Tigers didn’t record a first down until late in the first half and the Tigers didn’t have any plays of more than 15 yards, as they finished with 52 yards of total offense.
Isaac Stromlund was a big reason why with two interceptions that included a pick-six in the fourth quarter.
AUSTIN 45, ALBERT LEA 6
Austin 7 28 7 7 — 45
Albert Lea 0 0 6 0 — 6
