On Friday night, the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Thunder hosted the Osakis Silverstreaks for a conference game. The Thunder were looking to build momentum after winning their first game since 2005 the previous week.

The Silverstreaks also entered Week 3 coming off a win after pounding New York Mills 32-7. 

Osakis kept up a season trend by using their size on the offensive line and in the backfield to pound the ball on the ground all night long en route to a 44-19 win.

The Thunder looked good early on in the first quarter, stopping the Osakis run game and forcing them to put the ball in the air. This proved advantageous to the Thunder as senior John Dinkel came up with a big interception at the 7:32 mark in the first quarter. This gave the Thunder excellent field position at the Osakis 20-yard line.

LPGE opened up the playbook using a wide receiver reverse to Blake Kleinschmidt who took it 19 yards for a score. A successful extra point gave the Thunder a lead 7-0.

The defense of the Thunder came up big again by stopping a long drive by Osakis at the 27-yard line.

The second quarter proved to be more of a struggle for the Thunder defense, as Osakis would continue to pound the ball with their big running backs. The Silverstreaks ran the ball all the way down the field, eating up a lot of clock. Big running back Brian Thorstad ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown run and also added the two-point conversion. This gave Osakis an 8-7 lead.

With 6:14 remaining in the second quarter, the Osakis defense forced a fumble at the line of scrimmage on a third and short. The Silverstreaks scooped up the ball and returned it 30 yards for a defensive score. Thorstad punched in the two-point conversion to make it a 16-7 ball game.

The Thunder offense didn't fold. Cody Steward broke a few tackles and was able to take off down the sideline for a 64-yard run, bringing the ball down to the one-yard line. Fullback Ben Frieler ran it in for the score. The extra point attempt was no good bringing the score to 16-13 in Osakis’ favor.

After another stop by the Osakis defense, Thorstad would strike again, breaking a long run, setting up the Silverstreaks at the 11-yard line. Martin Walsh ran it in for the touchdown. A successful two-point and the score sat at 24-19.

With little time remaining, the Thunder offense really needed a score going into halftime. With a collection of play-action passes and good hard runs, the Thunder were able to strike before the end of the half. Quarterback Sean Colton, who was on the field for the first time after missing the first two games, ran it in for a one-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful leaving the score going into halftime at 24-19.

Steward had a nice return to midfield to start the second half, but things went downhill for the Thunder from there.

Osakis was able to stop them on their initial drive, and it was all Silverstreaks the rest of the way. The run game proved to be too dominant as the big Osakis players wore out the Thunder defense. Thorstad and Mitchell Herzog were able to break a number of tackles throughout the second half.

A key injury hurt the Thunder in the second half. Senior Austin Kaiser, who led the Thunder over West Central the week earlier, got knocked out of the game early in the third quarter.

Even with the Osakis JV team in early in the fourth quarter, the run game didn’t end. Hunter Johnson ran it up the middle 30 yards for a touchdown with three minutes remaining in the game.

The Silverstreaks moved to 3-0 on the season and will host United North Central next Friday. The Thunder fell to 1-2 on the year and will travel to Wadena next Friday.

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