Chaska comes up big late against Orono
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With less than a minute to play in the first half, the Chaska Hawks appeared to be in complete control of Friday night's home football game versus Orono.
The tide quickly turned when the Spartans' Bobby Striggow scored the second of his three touchdowns to send the Orono into the locker room only down 20-15.
Striggow would score in the third quarter to give Orono its first lead of the game.
After controlling the better part of the first half, the Hawks couldn't get anything going in the second half. That is – until the needed it.
"That third quarter was pretty rough," Chaska do everything lineman Micah Roane said. "It was pretty low times, but we came together in the end."
Down four points midway through the fourth quarter the Hawks' offense –like Roane said - finally came together.
Hawks' quarterback Connor Souba was effective in many aspects of the game. He ran the ball well and was successful throwing the ball underneath. Where Souba struggled was throwing the long ball. He missed open receivers down the sidelines at least three times. During the biggest drive of the game, he didn't miss. Souba found wide receiver Nolan Hansen streaking down the middle of the field and threw a strike to the junior on a third and long.
The big play seemed to spark something in the Chaska running game as – like early in the game – they found success pounding the middle of the Orono defense with running backs Kobe Lillo and Marcus Holasek. With 5:26 to play in the game Souba scored his third rushing touchdown of the game to retake the lead 26-22.
"That was huge," Chaska coach Bryan Dahl said. "I think the drive was 90-some yards. We shot ourselves in the foot and weren't good on first down during the game, but that drive was huge. We were physical up front, pounded the football, and it paid off."
"That was just effort by everyone," Roane said. "We didn't have a lot left, but we gave all that we had. That boosted the team to get that drive at the end."
After falling behind, a long kickoff return set Orono up near mid-field. They picked up a first down but then were faced with a fourth and six.
A sweep to Striggow – a play that was killing Chaska in the second half- was just good enough to keep the game alive for the Spartans. A few plays later the Spartans were faced with a fourth and six at the 29-yard line. This time the Chaska defense was up to the task forcing an incompletion ultimately ending the game.
"Those were two good football teams," Dahl said. "It was back and forth. Both teams battled. Our offense did a great job moving the ball down the field when we needed it, and our defense made a stop to win the game."
The 26-22 final score kept Chaska undefeated at 4-0 and dropped the Spartans to the .500 mark at 2-2.
