Owatonna Football Tunes up for the Season at Lakeville South Scrimmage

Listen to coach Jeff Williams' preseason interview from the Saturday KRFO coaches show.

The Huskies scrimmaged Saturday against a trio of Class 6A teams at Lakeville South as they were joined by Woodbury and Champlin Park. Owatonna used the day to audition a pair of quarterbacks to replace All Conference performer Alex Emanuelson, who ended his career third in career passing yards and touchdowns.

Senior Jacob Gauthier played the varsity back-up role in 2015. Junior Abe Havelka is also contending for the job. Owatonna High School is also replacing running back Sam Hylle, who had the sixth best season in school history last year. Junior Zach Mensink and sophomore Jason Williamson got extensive carries in the rain on Saturday.

Owatonna returns just one regular starter on the offensive line with senior Nathan Deason. A number of wide outs are back, including seniors Vince Spurgeon and Brett Solie and juniors Noah Budach, Alex Raichle and Dalton Kubista.

On defense, senior Goy Tut is back on the line after an honorable mention All Conference season in 2015. Senior linebacker Ben Staska was All Conference as a junior. Solie and Westphal were starters in the secondary last year, with Westphal earning All-Big Nine recognition.

The Huskies open their season Friday, September 2, against Mankato West at the OHS field. The Scarlets beat Owatonna 28-6 in week one of the 2015 season with sophomore quarterback Zach Annexstad at the helm. After he got injured, junior Robert Meidl replaced him and led West to the state semifinals.

Owatonna's games all start at 7PM. Home games are in bold. All games are on KRFO AM 1390.