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Monster second half fuels Orioles' crazy comeback

By MN Football Hub staff, 10/19/11, 1:20PM CDT

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Osseo scores 28 unanswered points, caps second straight come-from-behind victory

Any fans that showed up at halftime to the Wednesday, Oct. 19 Northwest Suburban conference battle between Osseo and Blaine may have just turned around and went home after seeing score.

With the Orioles down 21-7 the game looked to be an easy victory for Blaine.

To make matters worse for Osseo, the Bengals quickly scored on the first possession of the third quarter increasing their lead to 21 points.

It seemed unlikely that Osseo would orchestrate yet another improbable comeback after needing a last-second touchdown pass to defeat Champlin Park 26-21 on Friday, Oct. 14.

Unlikely? Yes.

Impossible? Guess again.

“At halftime, it was all about believing,” Osseo senior running back Tim Searcy said. “Going into halftime we looked at the defense -- they said they would get a couple stops, we told them we would score.

“All we could do was believe.”

Osseo never stopped believing as the Orioles scored 28 unanswered points to defeat Blaine 35-28.

“What an exciting game -- two great teams going at it,” Osseo coach Derrin Lamker said. “It was just fun. I credit our fans, our players, our coaches. Everybody just stayed the course, stayed with the plan, stayed calm and got it done.”

That calmness may have been a result of confidence.

For the second week in a row, Osseo was faced with a 21-7 deficit at halftime and needed a reminder in the locker room from the Orioles’ coach.

“We said the same thing we said last week,” Lamker said. “Stay calm. Even keel is our keel -- that's our saying. You have to be even keel all the time. Don't get too high, don't get too low just stick to the plan, wait to the end and see what happens.”

That said, coming off a short week following an emotional win it wasn’t easy to convince a team of high school boys to buy into that mentality.

“Well that's the hard thing,” Lamker said. “You have to get your guys ready to go all the time but this time of the year is awesome as a high school kid -- you don't have school on MEA, then you get to actually go play games with very little practice. So they like that.

“They're resilient those guys could play tomorrow if they had to. They're not like the NFL guys that need the rest, these guys are ready to go.”

After playing the ‘comeback kids’, Osseo will wait for the playoff brackets to be released but the Orioles’ past two victories over Champlin Park and Blaine has the team and a town believing.

“(Those games) say that we don't give up,” Searcy said. “No matter what the score is we believe in each other and we believe in our fans.

“That's what it takes.”

-- Michael Murakami, MN Football Hub staff

Osseo's running back dynamic duo pulls through

Behind on the scoreboard 21-7 at halftime and lacking excitement, Osseo looked for someone -- anyone -- to provide a spark.

Enter Tim Searcy.

The Orioles’ senior running back not only sparked Osseo’s offense but ignited an unlikely comeback against Blaine.

Searcy rushed for 195 yards on 19 carries and found the endzone twice powering Osseo to a 35-28 victory over the Bengals.

While the performance was impressive, Osseo coach Derrin Lamker was quick to credit another big-time running back for contributing to Searcy’s success.

“Here's the big deal, too, you have to remember (Bridgeport Tusler) is lead blocking for him,” Lamker said. “There's two guys on him and he's flattening people and that's the key. Granted (Searcy) ran hard and did his thing but when (Tusler) is a selfless blocker like that, that is awesome.”

Tusler finished with 145 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own as well as providing those high-praised blocks.

For Searcy, there’s only one mindset when he moves in to take the handoff.

“As a senior running back, I take every snap as: go hard, each play, touchdown -- that's all I think about,” Searcy said. “If I can get 20 yards, I take the 20 yards and I just go with it.

“Each play I go hard.”

If Osseo's star running backs continue to work together, the pair could cap off the Orioles' magical run sprinting and blocking all the way down Mall of America Field in the Metrodome -- a postseason finish their coach is pulling for.

"I hope so," Lamker said. "We're built for playoff football especially if the weather gets bad. We're going to have a tough first game, I don't know if it's Maple Grove -- they gave us some issues last time so that will be tough.

"Whatever happens, we're going to enjoy this tonight. Seven and one for the Orioles in a great conference that's really great for our kids and our program."

-- Michael Murakami, MN Football Hub

Statistics, Summary

1. Tim Searcy, Osseo
The Orioles went to Searcy 19 times and the senior running back racked up 195 yards on the ground along with two touchdowns. His patient yet punishing running style wore down Blaine’s defense late in the game.

2. Bridgeport Tusler, Osseo
Tusler was the other half of the Osseo two-headed monster. His 145 rushing yards and one touchdown helped the Orioles continue to move the chains down the field. The junior running back's lone trip to the endzone tied the score for the first time since the opening kickoff. Not to be forgotten was Tusler's blocking skills which allowed for top-star Searcy to have a monster game.

3. Luis Sanchez, Blaine
If you told the Osseo defensive line how many yards Sanchez rushed for, they might not believe it was only 110 yards. Sanchez -- who also ran for a touchdown -- pounded the ball relentlessly all night long and was the only Blaine weapon that was effective throughout the contest. The senior running back was rarely tackled for a loss.

-- Jake Lunemann, MN Football Hub Staff

Game Recap

In a tale of two halves, Osseo scored 28 unanswered points to come from behind and defeat conference rival Blaine by a score of 35-28.

Blaine got out to a strong first half behind their star quarterback Duke Anyanwu and workhorse running back Luis Sanchez.  They would combine for three rushing touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead into the half.

After a quick Blaine touchdown to start the third quarter, it would be all Osseo for the rest of the game.  Osseo would get over 300 yards rushing and three touchdowns from their two power backs Tim Searcy and Bridgeport Tusler. They would also force three interceptions from Anyanwu.

After throwing the go ahead touchdown to Tyler Stromback, Osseo would ice the victory by picking off Anyanwu one last time with under two minutes to play.

-Jake Lunemann, MN Football Hub Staff

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