Three fumbles in the second half spoiled a determined upset bid by the Osseo High School football team as it fell to district rival Maple Grove 34-14 at Carl Tonn Field last Friday.

Playing in front of a packed house, the Orioles were able to move the ball consistently on offense and played hard-nosed defense. They tied the game 14-14 early in the third quarter and were driving toward a potential go-ahead score. Then disaster struck.

"We played well for three quarters," Osseo coach Dan Green said. "Then we turned it over and didn't deal with the sudden change on defense. It sounds like a broken record, but for whatever reasons we started not hanging on to the football. If not for those three fumbles, it's a tie game."

Osseo actually took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on an impressive 75-yard drive. Senior fullback Ben Roff picked up two key first downs with his hard running and quarterback Shawn Dunbar hooked up with receiver Jesse Becker for a key first down pass that put the ball at the MG 27. On the next play, Dunbar kept the ball, found an opening on the right side and dashed 27 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

"Osseo has a very explosive offense with very good quick-ness," Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen said. "They can run hard and are quick too."

The Crimson came right back and scored on four plays. Running back Ryan Iskierka had runs of 22 and 19 yards, fullback Ryan Holland had a 12-yard run before quarter-back Mitch Brecke capped the drive with a 10-yard TD pass to receiver Ben Holland.

Maple Grove took the lead in the second quarter with a 97-yard drive. Osseo punter Nate Stone had pinned the Crimson to their 3 with a 62-yard punt but the Crimson methodically drove down field to score. Brecke hit junior receiver Greg Martin for a key 25-yard completion on third down from the 8.

Martin, who led the conference in receiving last year, would torment the Osseo defense throughout the game. He made two more key receptions on the drive and Brecke capped the march with a 4-yard TD pass to receiver Josh Laurent.

Osseo came right back in the second half and tied the game with a 64-yard scoring drive. Roff again was the workhorse and running back Chris Lorentz finished the march when he took a pitch and sprinted 22 yards around right end into the end zone. Stone's kick tied the game 14-14.

The Orioles had the momentum and got the ball back. Osseo was on the march again and moved the ball to its 42 when disaster struck. Dunbar dropped back to pass but was hit from the blind side by MG defensive end Jacob Lewis and fumbled. Crimson linebacker Jeff Jarvis recovered on the Osseo 42. The Crimson took advantage and took the lead when Holland ran in from five yards on the first play of the fourth quarter. That put MG up 21-14 and the Crimson never trailed.

MG recovered two more Osseo fumbles on Osseo's next two possessions and converted that into a Brecke one-yard TD run and a Brecke to Martin 10-yard TD pass late in the quarter.

"Osseo-Maple Grove games are always tough because the kids put so much into it and this is no exception," Hansen said. "Osseo is well coached and well organized and did a very good job. We were fortunate to get some turnovers and we were able to capitalize. We ran into that problem the week before and that worked against us. Fortunately, this week it worked in our favor."

The Crimson did not have any turnovers and had 298 yards in rushing. Iskierka led the rushing attack with 172 yards on 20 rushes. Holland had 78 yards on 8 runs and a TD and Brecke had 45 yards on nine rushes. Brecke completed seven of nine passes for 87 yards and three touchdowns. Martin had four receptions for 61 yards, Laurent had one for four, Holland had one for ten, and Bobby Usset had one for 12.

On defense, Lewis made a huge impact in his first game at end. Tackle Paul Joelson and defensive backs Aaron Moerke and Anders Grinde all played strong games.

The Orioles finished with 227 yards on 34 rushes. Dunbar had 84 yards on 14 runs, Roff had 69 yards on 13 runs, Lorenz had 39 yards on 2 rushes and Paul Muecke picked up 19 yards on 3 runs.

"I was pleased with our offense," Green said. "Our perimeter game worked well and we had some tremendous down-field blocking."

Dunbar completed 3 of 8 passes for 32 yards. Becker caught all three passes.

Defensively, linebackers Roff, Brian Swanson, Nate Johnson and Ray Buice and linemen Reggie Ross, Elliot Rajtar and Jesse Jones battled hard against Maple Grove's explosive offense. "I am not big on moral victory but I'm proud of the guys," Green said. "They played hard and never gave up. We just have to keep working. If we can eliminate the mistakes we can be competitive and win some games."

Martin is again leading the conference in receiving with 21 catches for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Iskierka is second in rushing with 312 yards on 52 carries and one touchdown. Brecke is third in passing with 38 completion in 71 attempts for 561 yards and eight touchdowns. Justin Beacom is second in kicking, converting 12 of 14 extra-point kicks. The Crimson defense is ranked second in the conference, allowing an average of 244 yards per game. Their offense is ranked third with 326.8 yards per game.

For Osseo, Roll is fifth in rushing with 233 yards on 50 carries. Osseo's defense is ranked sixth in the conference while the offense is ranked eighth.

The Orioles next visit Elk River Friday, Sept. 26. The Crimson next host Coon Rapids for their homecoming the same night.