Posted By: Jason Iacovino

Some area teams answered questions, others raised questions, and Owatonna escaped in Houdini-like fashion in week two of the high school football season.

Let's start with the Huskies.

Owatonna avoided its first loss versus Rochester Century since the flood-suspended game in 2011 thanks to a blocked extra point that prevented the Panthers from taking the lead with just seconds to go in regulation.  Owatonna ended up prevailing 40-37 in overtime thanks to a touchdown run by Alec Holcomb, his third of the game.

Coach Jeff Williams praised his team for having the poise to win a closely-fought battle, but it's striking how the undefeated and top-ranked Huskies have won its two games by an average margin of 4.5 points a year after they averaged 30.9 points better than the Big Nine in going 10-0, including playoffs.  We knew this year would be different, but I'm not sure we envisioned a 46-point turnaround in the case of the Owatonna-Century series.

Still, the Huskies will open its home schedule on Friday against Faribault riding a 24-game conference winning streak (Including playoffs) as their last Big Nine loss came on Oct. 19, 2012 against Rochester Mayo.  The schedule gets more interesting from here on out, including this big battle agains the Falcons, who scored a 10-point home win vs. Mankato East last week.

My biggest local winner in week two has to be the Triton Cobras.  After opening their new turf field on the wrong side of a 30-6 score against Kasson-Mantorville, the Cobras stormed into No. 7 Pine Island and picked up a 28-14 that will go along way towards winning their second straight Southern Football Alliance--White conference title.

Triton's aspirations have to go beyond conference championships at this point.  After struggling in the Sec. 1AA playoffs for two seasons since moving over from Section 2 (Section one has claimed 5 of the last 6 State champions with Caledonia and Chatfield), Triton will have a chance to contend in the playoffs this season and make yet another State appearance under head coach Don Henderson.

Triton will face a suddenly very tough Dover-Eyota (1-1) squad on Friday on the road before returning to the new Snake Pit for a rivalry game against Kenyon-Wanamingo on Sep. 19.  The Cobras have a very strong running game and if their defense continues to perform like it did against Pine Island, do not be surprised if they rip off a long winning streak like they did after an opening loss in 2013.

The Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms left no doubt in its return to Waterville for the first time since having a game ripped from them by the officials in 2003.  I won't rehash the "inadvertent whistle" debacle, but BP's 33-14 win over the Buccaneers had to feel extra special for coach Chad Gimbel and the other coaches who still remember how bitter that loss felt.  The Blossoms' win was their second straight against Class AA Waterville-Elysian-Morristown--BP beat the Bucs at home last year.  The Jon Rumpza to Cole Sunde connection worked for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns last Friday.

This sets up a big home game for the Blossoms (2-0) on Friday against Lester Prairie / Holy Trinity (3-0).  The two Prairies have had some classic battles through the years....some close, some not so close.  Since they will be in difference scheduling districts starting next year, this would figure to be the last regular season meeting between the two Class A powers in quite some time.  Kat Kountry 105 will have radio coverage on Friday night from McFarlin Field.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (1-1) followed up its impressive non-conference win in week one over Sibley East with a turnover-filled disappointing loss at Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial, 14-6.  The fact that NRHEG turned the ball over as much as they did and still only lost by 8 points is a testament to how good the Panthers can be, but this one will definitely hurt them in the Gopher Valley AA race.

NRHEG will have an intriguing battle with Bethlehem Academy this Friday in its second non-conference game of the young season.  The Cardinals have shaken off their zero week loss to Mankato Loyola with wins over St. Clair and United South Central.

Finally, the Medford Tigers (0-2) started the season with two very tough opponents in Mound Westonka and Maple River and will try to get their first win in week three when they travel to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown for a game between two winless teams.  The way I see it, the Gopher Valley AA is wide open as I doubt Maple River will run the table again in 2014, so this is a critical game.

Jason Iacovino can be heard Tuesdays and Fridays on KRFO-AM 1390 at 3:50 p.m. Leave a comment below and follow him on Twitter @JasonIacovino.

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