SAVAGE — If Thursday night is the opening act, last Saturday was the dress rehearsal.

Taking the short trip north to Prior Lake High School and scrimmaging against a trio of Class 6A programs, the Owatonna football team traded blows with Farmington, Eastview and Prior Lake and provided plenty of substance for the coaching staff to ponder as they make final preparations for Thursday’s season-opening matchup at Hastings.

As for me, well, this semi-objective observer and partially impartial local beat reporter left the action just as excited about the overall prospect of the 2024 season as I was prior to the scrimmages and remained just as eager to see how the entire process unfolds over the next couple months.

And, as always, there were plenty of surprises.

Here are some of my biggest observations:

THE DEFENSIVE LINE HAS DEPTH, AND SIZE — LOTS AND LOTS OF SIZE

After arriving on the OHS sideline just in time to watch the Huskies’ starting defensive unit stonewall Farmington on back-to-back plays that were blown up in the trenches, I made a mental note to pay a little extra attention Owatonna’s revamped defensive front.

What I witnessed over the next 90 minutes was encouraging, to say the least.

Farmington and Eastview’s offensive lines struggled immensely to gain any degree leverage against Owatonna’s defensive front throughout the entire afternoon and, according to my unofficial and vague statistical tabulations, combined for a grand total of three first downs the entire session.

Anchoring Owatonna’s starting three-man front was second-year starter — and bigtime breakdown candidate — Zach Dahert on the left edge. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior started on both sides of the ball last season and was extremely active in the offseason, attending various junior day events and college prosect showcases while sustaining an intensive weight-training regimine throughout the entire offseason. Much like Torrin Smith did in 2022 and 2023, I expect Dahnert to make the leap from rock-solid two-way contributor as a junior, to a first-team all-district performer as a senior.

Joining Dahnert up front in the starting lineup against Farmington was returning letterwinner, Max Flemke, at nose guard and newcomer, Ryan McIntosh, on the right edge.

Though he exited early on against Farmington and did not return to the field for the remainder of the day after suffering an apparent knee injury, Flemke initially caught my eye based purely how much bigger he looked roaming the sidelines. Just six months removed from his wrestling weight of roughly 205 pounds, the junior is now listed at a healthy 233 pounds and is penciled in as the Huskies’ starting nose guard, assuming he remains healthy, that is.

McIntosh — who was one of the program’s leading tacklers at the sub-varsity level as a freshman and sophomore over the last two years — was elevated to the playoff roster in 2023 and spent his first two years in the program as a playmaking middle linebacker. Now, with the Huskies stacked at the second level and in serious need of a few capable pass-rushers to help ease the burden of replacing Torrin Smith, Jack Strom and Mitch Seykora’s 10 combined sacks from last season, McIntosh will have a chance to start from Day 1 as a 6-1, 210-pound defensive end.

Patrick Anderson was the first player to rotate into the lineup in place of Flemke and was one of 11 Owatonna lineman to see the field that tipped the scales north of 230 pounds, an uptick from eight such athletes in 2023 and five in 2022. According to the team’s initial roster released on Monday morning, Owatonna’s 12 heaviest players average 260.3 pounds apiece.

Not bad.

THE WEBBER-GINSKEY SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN

In a calculated decision that is bound to cause plenty of sleepless nights for opposing defensive coordinators, Owatonna head coach Jeff Williams appears committed to utilizing Nolan Ginskey and Luke Webber on both sides of the ball on a full-time basis.

Although it comes with its share of obvious health and fatigue-related risks, the upside of such a decision simply outweighs the alternative.

For the uninitiated, Ginskey and Webber were part of an Owatonna foursome that claimed the Class AAA state championship in the 4×200-meter relay this past spring and clocked one of the fastest times in state history in the event at the 2024 Big Nine Conference meet. Individually, both have also registered 40-yard dash times just north of 4.49 seconds and been clocked below 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

Williams has never been shy about his desire to limit the number of two-way starters he deploys on a year-in, year-out basis, and until this past weekend, it remained unclear exactly how he intended to manage Ginskey and Webber’s workload at receiver and defensive back this season. Though things could always change — and lineups can always be tweaked — Williams made a statement on Saturday: His best players are going to play.

Period.

CARTER FLATLAND CAN FLAT-OUT RUN

Unquestionably the star of the first two sessions on Saturday was halfback, Carter Flatland.

Sharing primary ball-carrying duties with Jamie Lisowski and Tristan Graham, Flatland made the most of his opportunity and flashed an aggressive and versatile running style that included close to 50 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The junior pushed forward into the end zone for a 5-yard score against Farmington in the early session before finishing a highlight-reel scamper against Eastview that started with him knifing through the heart of the Lightning defense near the line of scrimmage and ended with him carrying a pair of defenders across the goal line more than 20 yard down field.

PATIENCE WILL BE THE KEY AT QB

Saturday marked the first time since 2021 that Owatonna entered the annual scrimmages still breaking-in a new quarterback, handing the reigns to senior Hunter Theis after Jacob Ginskey had successfully steered the Husky offense for the previous two-and-a-half seasons.

As one might expect, Theis took some lumps and struggled with his overall consistency, but displayed plenty of winning traits to solidify himself as the team’s No. 1 option moving forward.

The good news: The Huskies’ receivers had little trouble creating separation, at least against Farmington and Eastview, and the overall pass protection looked generally solid.

Webber found himself routinely wide open against Farmington and Eastview’s one-on-one man coverage on the outside and hauled in a pair of wayward passes in the back of the end zone that were ultimately ruled incomplete after snatching the ball at the apex of his jump, but failing to come down with at least one foot in-bounds

Ginskey’s lone big play came on a nicely-placed receiver screen and sparked a productive offensive march by the Owatonna starters that ultimately stalled out inside the 5 yard line against Farmington.

Ultimately, Theis showed a great deal of poise in his first high-pressure, albeit irregular, game-time environment at the varsity level and remains in prime position to steer the Huskies’ high-powered offense this season.

It’s just going to take some time.

For a complete photo album of Saturday’s action, click HERE.