Anytime Maple Grove and Osseo match up, no matter the sport, fans can be sure of two things: both teams will play their hearts out and it will be exciting.

On Friday, Sept. 21, the "home" Crimson and the "visitor" Orioles collided on the Park Center football field. As fans awaiting a stadium of their own, the Maple Grove fan-base was emotional as they watched their team defeat Osseo 13-10 in overtime.

Before the game, both teams and their fans paid tribute to the victims of the Tuesday, Sept. 11, terrorist attacks by observing a moment of silence. The teams stood stoic and the bleachers on both sides of the field, once packed with rowdy fans eager to start the game, fell silent. Then the national anthem blared and by the time it was over a rambunctious crowd watched a great football game.

Due to the rain that had fallen before the game, the field was a soggy sponge of brown and green. Before the game, Maple Grove head coach Craig Hansen told his team not to be distracted by the poor field conditions, but his team spent the better part of the first quarter trying to get its cleats above the ankle-deep mud that covered the middle of the field. Osseo did not fare much better as both offenses struggled to move the ball.

On the other side of the ball, both defenses seemed to relish the sloppy conditions. Maple Grove's defensive ends Travis Iskierka and Justin Kokales clogged the middle and held Osseo's running game in check for the entire quarter. Osseo, too, played great defense, holding the Crimson backs to minimal gains.

In the second quarter, both teams showed some spark. Osseo, led by running back A.J. Bursch, moved the ball to the Maple Grove two-yard line. The Orioles seemed destined to take the lead. But the Crimson defense had other ideas and stuffed Osseo on four consecutive plays.

"The game was very much a battle for field position," Osseo coach Claud Allaire said. "We moved the ball down inside the Maple Grove 10-yard line early in the second quarter but threw an interception on second down.

"Our defense really did a super job," said Hansen. "They kept us in the game with that stand on our two-yard line."

Unfortunately for Maple Grove, the offense promptly turned the ball over via interception. One play later, Bursch went in to score from six yards out. The Orioles' talented kicker, Jerry D'Allesandro, added the extra point and Osseo had a 7-0 lead.

Both teams exchanged possessions as the quarter wound down. Then, as the Orioles were driving again, Crimson senior linebacker Tom Murphy intercepted a pass and returned it to the end zone. A clipping call against the Crimson brought the ball back to the Osseo 25-yard line. A few plays later, Jon Hicks ran the ball in for the Crimson, tying the game at seven.

During halftime, Hansen told his team they were lucky to have tied the game. "We had done some good things throughout the first two quarters, just not enough of them," he said. "I thought Osseo was playing very tough and it was important for us to get that score before the half to put us back in the game."

The third and fourth quarters featured more outstanding defense by both teams. Maple Grove intercepted three second half passes, and Osseo intercepted one, while holding the Crimson to just 80 yards rushing for the entire game.

"It was a great defensive battle," said Hansen.

As the defenses dominated each opposing offense, a sense of urgency permeated the stadium. Fans for both teams grew increasingly loud as the minutes and seconds of the second half ticked off the clock. Regulation ended with the teams tied at seven.

Maple Grove won the coin flip and chose to begin the extra quarter on defense. Osseo started with the ball on the Crimson's 10-yard line. On the first play the Orioles ran went nowhere. On the second, Iskierka broke through the offensive line and sacked the Oriole quarterback, setting up a third and goal from the 16-yard line.

Osseo failed to score on the next play, putting the team in a precarious position. They had to attempt a difficult 33-yard field goal on a muddy field, or try to score a touchdown from 16 yards out. The Orioles went for the field goal.

D'Allesandro nailed an impressive kick through the goal posts, putting pressure on the Crimson, which had already missed a field goal from about the same distance earlier in the second half. "We knew we had to score, and our kids were up to the challenge."

On the first play from the Oriole's 10-yard line, the Crimson executed a perfect running play, breaking Ross Muellenberg into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

"It was an exciting play," said Hansen. "You could see a light go on in the kids' eyes. They feel like they can execute a play the way it is drawn up and see it work. I'm proud of them."

For the game, Ryan Iskierka completed nine passes on 18 attempts for 84 yards. He also caught one interception. Marcus Simmons caught four passes for 38 yards, Aaron Getchell caught four for 41 and Nick Brenkman caught one pass for five yards. Leading rushers were Jon Hicks, who ran 38 yards on 10 carries and Ross Muellenberg, who went for 34 yards on 12 carries.

On the defensive side, Torn Murphy was credited with four tackles and one interception, Luke Greder had 12 tackles and one interception, Travis Iskierka had six tackles, Justin Kokales had six tackles and one sack, John Nerva had one interception and John Juris had three tackles and one interception.

After the game, Hansen seemed proud of everyone in the stadium.

"I'm thankful to the Park Center community for letting us use their field," he said. "Their generosity is unbelievable. It was really nice for our fans and our players to at least feel like they were the home team for a game." And the fans, for both teams, were great. The student sections were both one full of wild and crazy fans. It was a fun night. It was a beautiful night for football and both teams played tough. Osseo has a good team. They came out, hit hard and gave it everything they had. I'm glad we played hard too, and came out on top of a classic game."