Hard Work Pays Off: Anoka vs. Osseo

"Persistence, dedication, commitment, effort, and resiliency. Listen, it's not easy to get the monkey off your back. You've seen that. We've battled; week one, week two, it's not easy. You knew it was going to be tough. This is only one though, fellas." Those were the words spoken by Osseo Orioles head coach Ryan Stockhaus after his team won a hard-fought victory over conference foe and 6A competitor Anoka. The win was the first for the 5A Metro-North squad since 2017, and it's not for a lack of trying. Stockhaus took over the head coaching job at Osseo the year after they won their first state title in 2016, which was the first in the history of the school. Since then, Stockhaus has worked tirelessly to rebuild a program that lost one of its largest senior classes to graduation, which included multiple college football commits, a head coach, offensive and defensive systems, and a culture, all while competing in the most competitive conference in the state since the old Lake Conference (Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Wayzata) was dissolved a few years back. Additionally, Osseo's enrollment qualifies it as a 5A school, while every other team in their conference boast larger enrollment (6A) numbers. Needless to say, Stockhaus, despite being one of the best coaches I have ever come across, has had to work very hard to send the Orioles back in a competitive direction after its first playoff appearance since 1986 and its first Prep Bowl championship in school history. However, all that hard work seems to be paying off after an exciting 27-16 victory last night over a tough Anoka Tornado team last night. In what was a back and forth game that included called back touchdowns, physical defending, and some big time players making big time plays, Osseo finally got the proverbial monkey off their back. Let's dive into the game a little and see who stood out for both the Orioles and the Tornados, as well as check out what happened in the game. [caption id="attachment_12366" align="alignright" width="300"] Credit: Jake Hill Hudl[/caption] The Orioles began the game by receiving the opening kickoff. Beginning the night using a two QB system, their first drive consisted of mainly running plays. One of the QB's, junior Wyatt Doubler (5'8, 155), used some shiftiness to pick up a couple first downs for Osseo, but the offense stalled out and punted the ball back to Anoka. On Anoka's first possession, we saw a heavy dose of #7 WR/TE/LB/SS Gopher commit Cody Lindenberg (6'3, 220). The senior was all over the field for the Tornadoes last night, and on that first drive they attempted a swing pass out to #7. After catching the ball, Osseo's Myles Hawthorne (6'1, 200) made his first of many great open field tackles. The senior LB cut tackled Lindenberg without hesitation, whose body rotated through the air and landed hard on the turf. The next play, Osseo's electric playmaker Jake Hill (6'1, 170), laid out the Anoka ball carrier and ruptured the football loose, giving Osseo the ball back. After a reverse pass by Doubler that went 23-yards to stud DB/WR Steven Arrell (6'2. 190) to begin the drive, consecutive flags halted the Orioles offensive drive. Anoka used a heavy dose of junior RB Dylan Schmidt (5'10, 180) to get themselves into Osseo territory, a theme that continued all night, and on a 4th and 2 Anoka sophomore QB Jacob Deutschman (6', 180) rolled left and found Lindenberg working himself into space. The Gopher commit turned this catch into a 35-yard TD after a nice cut following the catch, and put the Tornadoes up 7-0 with four minutes left in the first. On the first play of Osseo's next drive, a swing pass caught by Khalid Brooks (5'7, 160) was taken up the left sideline, and taken up fast. The senior ran through a group of three would-be Anoka defenders, and kept going for an 85-yard reception TD, tying the score at 7. Anoka drove deep into Osseo territory on their next drive, and found themselves on their opponents 12 at the end of the 1st, following another 4th down conversion. The beginning of the 2nd started in extremely exciting fashion. After Anoka found themselves inside the 5 of Osseo, they called a quick 3-step slant that Arrell read perfectly, picked the ball off, and ran it 96-yards for the pick-six. However, the play was called back due to defensive-holding on Osseo, and Anoka scored later on that drive on a run by #13 Ethan Kelley (5'7, 170), and after missing the XP, found themselves winning 13-7. It was a very nice read by Arrell. Later in the quarter, after the Orioles couldn't get anything going on O, Anoka converted their third 4th down attempt, this time with a 6-yard run by Schmidt. After a 14-yard run on the next play by Schmidt, the Tornadoes Deutschman threw a beautiful 30-yard fade to #3 Jameson Madland (6', 170), which they later used to convert a FG, placing themselves up 16-7 with 2:54 left in the half. Still struggling on offense, Osseo punted the ball back to the Tornadoes on their next offensive series. Deutschman completed a bomb to a wide open Anoka wideout, but Arrell flew from his safety position and absolutely crushed the receiver from behind, popping the ball loose. It was incredibly loud and exciting, and the Orioles used the momentum to complete a 22-yard passing TD from #9 Jake Kreuter (6'1, 190) to the athletic Hill with 42 seconds left in the 2nd quarter, making the score 16-14 Anoka at the end of the first half. [caption id="attachment_12365" align="alignright" width="300"] Credit: Ethan Kelley Hudl[/caption] Receiving the second half KO, Anoka got back to work with the running game and Schmidt. Using Lindenberg as a motioning H-back to pancake defenders all night long, the Tornadoes still found themselves behind on the chains. This is when one Osseo defender that hasn't been mentioned yet began to take over the game. Knowledge Johnson (6'2, 200), a pass rushing specialist and senior for Osseo, began putting pressure on Anoka and come up with a huge sack on the opening drive of the 2nd half to force a punt. That punt then led to a rushing TD by Osseo's Tesheldon Robinson after a nice offensive drive. After a failed 2pt conversion in which Lindenberg absolutely mauled the RB and forced a fumble, Osseo led 20-16 with 10:04 left in the 3rd quarter. Despite some nice runs by Schmidt in the 3rd that led to some momentum building drives, Anoka couldn't find the end zone. An electrifying Hill punt return for Osseo that went more than 50 yards was called back on another flag, and the quarter ended 20-16 in favor of the Orioles. An exciting 4th quarter followed a back and forth 3rd, with Anoka coming close several times to opening the game back up. However, the pass rushing of Johnson and Michael McIntyre (6'3, 225), who combined for four sacks in the 2nd half, kept Deutschman pressured and unable to complete any throws. Osseo totaled three interceptions in the quarter on Anoka's last three drives, by Hawthorne, Josiah Tusler (5'11, 170), and Danzele Navy (5'10, 170) sealing the victory multiple times. Jake Hill added another TD on a beauty of a corner route for Osseo, and Khalid Brooks' shiftiness kept the chains moving for Osseo's offense. It was truly a team effort in the win for Osseo, and despite the efforts by the monstrous Lindenberg and the tough running of Schmidt, Anoka could not put a drive together in the 2nd half and find the end zone, and the game finished 27-16. On a beautiful Friday night in Minnesota, hard work payed off for the Osseo Orioles.