Charlie Hrdlicka scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to rally the United North Central football team to a 24-14 victory at Osakis last Friday night.
After a scoreless first quarter, Clinton Wiener's 14-yard run offset a 16-yard TD run by Hrdlicka as UNC trailed 7-6 at the half.
Both teams battled through a scoreless third quarter before an 8-yard TD run by Hrdlicka gave the Warriors a 12-7 edge.
Osakis took a 14-12 lead on Jason Johnson's 8-yard TD run, but Hrdlicka countered with TD runs of 8 and 14 yards to give UNC its fourth win in five games and drop Osakis to 1-4 on the season.
"The key to the game was our solid finish in the fourth quarter. Osakis came out very fired up and played very tough, physical football. We knew it was going to be a tough four-quarter game, but I thought our conditioning and our persistence paid off in the end," said UNC head coach Jeremy Nordick. "We had a few breakdowns in the first half that really put us in some tough spots. We put together some long drives that we just didn't finish. The thing that was encouraging was we didn't hang our heads. We kept at it and we were able to put up three scores in the fourth quarter that were the difference in the game."
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Hrdlicka finished with 206 yards on 35 carries and Tyler Ahlf added 42 yards on 11 carries. Brady Yrjo completed 4 of 10 passes for 45 yards and Alex Brock-pahler had a 21-yard completion to Luke Hendrickson, who caught two passes for 35 yards. Reid Anderson added an 18-yard reception.
Ahlf led the defense with five solo tackles and four assists while Hendrickson and Andy Floyd were in on eight tackles each. Brock-pahler's fumble recovery and Josh Meech's interception resulted in the two turnovers for the Warriors.
"I thought our defense played very solid again for the third week in a row. We have put them in some bad field position lately and they have hung tough," said Nor-dick, whose team played Parkers Prairie Friday night at Sebeka. "We have some very solid leadership on both sides of the ball and their desire to win is showing on Friday nights. We took some very big positive strides in the fourth quarter last Friday night and hopefully that momentum will carry us into this Friday night."
UNC 0 6 0 18 .24
Osakis 0 7 0 7 14
SCORING
O-Wiener 14 run (kick good)
UNC-Hrdlicka 16 run (run failed)
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UNC-Hrdlicka 8 run (pass failed)
O-Johnson 8 run (kick good)
UNC-Hrdlicka 8 run (pass failed)
UNC-Hrdlicka 14 run (pass failed
UNC OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING: Hrdlicka 35-206, Ahlf 11-42, Yrjo 6-8.
PASSING: Yrjo 4-10-0 for 45 yards; Brockpahler 1-1-0 for 21 yards.
RECEIVING: Hendrickson 2-35, Anderson 1-18, Hamp 1-10, Hrdlicka 1-3.
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KICKOFF RETURNS: Ahlf 2-16.
PUNT RETURNS: Yrjo 1-15.
UNC DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
SOLO TACKLES: Ahlf 5, Hendrickson 3, Hepola 3, Meech 3, Floyd 2, Chouinard 2, Hrdlicka 1, Anderson 1, Puttonen 1, Brockpahler 1, Kinnunen 1, Nevala 1.
ASSISTED TACKLES: Floyd 6, Hendrickson 5, Ahlf 4, Meech 4, Hrdlicka 3, Brockpahler 3, Chouinard 3, Anderson 2, Puttonen 2, Nevala 2, Klettenberg 2, Kinnunen 1, Hamp 1, Hepola 1, Ylitalo 1, Huttonen 1, Aho 1.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Brockpahler 1.
SACKS: Nevala 1.
INTERCEPTIONS: Meech 1.
KICKOFFS: Ahlf 5 for 178 yards.
PUNTS: Ahlf 3 for 97 yards.