In future years, there will surely be many classic football clashes between neighboring rivals Osseo and Maple Grove. But the first-ever con-test between the two teams was a lopsided 47-0 win for Osseo Friday, Sept. 13, at Carl Tonn Field.

The first-year Crimson, playing with many juniors and sophomores, were no match for the veteran Oriole squad. The Orioles dominated the line of scrimmage and their skilled athletes exploded for a myriad of big plays against the inexperienced opponents. Osseo put the game away by scoring all seven touchdowns in the first half.

GREAT SECONDARY

"Osseo has the best defensive secondary that we will see this year and that matches very well against us because the best part of our game now is our passing game," Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen said. "It was tough to move the ball because you just don't fool them. They have a veteran group hack there. We knew we needed to establish our running game and we couldn't."

"We knew going in that because of their youth and inexperience that they'd be outmoded," Osseo coach Claud Allaire said. "But we didn't really know what to expect so we tried to prepare like it's any other game. As it turned out, they gave us a lot of breaks in the first half and we were able to convert all the breaks into scores and we created some scores on our own. too. And as a result it was 47-0 in the first half."

Osseo senior running back Rob Nunn scored three touchdowns on runs of 24, 12 and 30 yards. Senior quarterback Mike Hendrickson threw a touchdown to junior tight end Brandon Lien and ran one in himself.

SECOND QUARTER

Lien replaced Hendrickson at quarterback in the second quarter and fired a touchdown pass to senior receiver Bob Simon. Senior fullback Dave Christenson concluded scoring with a touchdown run.

Nunn gained 175 yards on 18 runs and Hendrickson completed 5 of 6 passes for 120 yards to lead the Osseo.

"Offensively, they have great speed," Hansen said. "It's hard for our younger guys to keep up with that type of speed. The turnovers didn't help. We fumbled a kick-off, snapped the ball over the head of our punter and threw an interception. After that, it snowballed."

The Oriole defense also dominated. Dave Alberts and Tom Calls each intercepted a pass and Osseo held Maple Grove sophomore quarterback C. J. Woodrow to under 50 yards passing.

"Coming into the game, their quarterback had the most yards throwing the ball in the metro area," Allaire said. "We played man on their receivers and were able to shut down their passing game."

STILL IMPROVE

The win, Osseo's second straight after an opening loss, improved Osseo's record to 2-1. While happy with the win, Allaire said his team has plenty of room to improve. "I was happy that our players made big plays. You are always happy with that. On the other hands our execution left a bit to be desired," Allaire said. "The kids relied on the fact that we’re physically stronger and faster than the other team. I felt our execution was somewhat poor. Had we played somebody equal to us, we might not have done so well.”

GREAT ATTITUDE

For Hansen, this game was another lesson in the team’s learning process and he was pleased with his players’ attitude.

“I could not be more pleased with a bunch of young men,” Hansen said. “They wouldn’t quit and kept a positive attitude. They just kept working and working and trying. They have every reason to gripe, belly-ache and make excuses. That’s what is fun about the first year. Last week we had six more kids out for football and we haven’t had any kids hang it up. It shows they are having fun and working hard. Come Monday after school they are ready to go again.”

The Orioles host Mounds View Friday, Sept. 20 at 5 p.m. and the Crimson travel to Champlin Park the same night for a 7 p.m. game.