Maple Grove punched out two second-half touchdowns to beat Osseo 14-6 in a defensive struggle Friday, Oct. 15, at Carl Tonn Field.

Both defenses were sticky in the first half as the teams battled to a 0-0 tie. The action picked up in the second half when Osseo scored first off a Maple Grove turnover but the Crimson came right back with a long kickoff return and score two touchdowns to win.

“It was just a great high school game,” Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen said. “Both teams were evenly matched and both played hard. Osseo’s defense played well. You have to give the Osseo defense a lot of credit. They were stick and tough to move against.”

Maple Grove had the best scoring chance punched out two chance in the first half. Late in the second quarter, the Crimson launched a promising drive, and a spectacular catch by junior receiver Jake Johnson put the ball at the Osseo 10.

Quarterback Mike Klosterman ran to the 2 but on the next play the Crimson were called for a motion penalty by junior lineman Chad Conner and linebackers John Groebner and Chad Gromek, stopped Klosterman at the 3-yard line on fourth-and-goal.

Osseo's defense provided the big break in the second half. The Orioles deflected a pass by Klosterman at the line of scrimmage and intercepted it near the Maple Grove 40. On the first play, senior back Uruan Etim broke through the right side and ran all the way to the 2 before he was tackled.

A motion penalty pushed Osseo to the 7 but the Crimson were called for a pass interference and an offside to put the ball back at the 2. On the next play, Osseo quarterback Jesse Howard rolled to his left and pitched to Etim, who powered into the end zone for the game's first score.

The extra point kick failed, and the Crimson got a spark from senior receiver Adam Hamilton on the ensuing kickoff. Hamilton caught the kick on his 13 and ran all the way to the Osseo 7 before he was pushed out of bounds. Two plays later, junior back Josh Throndson powered in from six yards out to tie the game. Klosterman then tossed a two-point conversion pass to senior receiver Brent Lawson and Maple Grove was up to stay.

"Osseo came down and scored and we came back with the 81-yard return," Hansen said of Hamilton's return. "It was a significant point of the game. Osseo had momentum going and to swing that momentum or to even it out was significant."

The Crimson iced the win in the fourth quarter when Klosterman hit Brent Lawson for a 20-yard touch-down pass. After that, the Crimson defense kept Howard and Osseo in check and held to improve their conference record to 4-1.

"Our defensive played well," Hansen said. "Jesse Howard is such a threat every time he touches the ball. It's good that we put pressure on him. That helped a lot."

The Crimson offense did just enough to win against the stingy Osseo defense. Klosterman completed four of 11 passes for 83 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also led Maple Grove runners with 58 yards on 18 carries. Senior fullback Caleb Marx had 44 yards on 13 runs and Throndson had 42 on 14 carries. Lawson caught one pass for 20 yards, Johnson had one for 28, Throndson caught one for 20 and Hamilton one for 15.

Defensively, senior end Reed Trafton had seven tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and two hurries, defensive end Justin Davis had six assisted tack-les, junior linebacker Andy Greeder had three tackles, defensive back David Lawson had three tackles and broke up three passes, and senior linebacker Mickey Baker had three tackles and two hurries.

The Crimson next visit Mounds View Wednesday, Oct. 20. They can force a three-way tie for the conference championship with a victory.

"They have a chance to win it outright much like we did last year," Hansen said. "Hopefully the out-come won't be the same. Mounds View is always tough team so it will be a battle."

The Orioles finish the regular season at home against Park Center the same night.