ROCHESTER — The Owatonna football team allowed a feisty Rochester Century bunch to hang around on Friday night in both team’s Northstar South-Maroon opener at CHS stadium.

Ultimately, it was the Huskies’ inability to land the knockout blow — along with a string of other issues — that doomed their chances of stealing their first win of the season in an ugly 12-7 loss on the road.

The defeat marks the fourth in a row for Owatonna dating back to last season’s Class AAAAA state semifinals and marks the first time in Jeff Williams’ illustrious three-decade career that one of his teams has started 0-3. It was Owatonna’s first loss to Century since Week 6 of the 2010 season. It was also the Panthers’ first win since Friday, Sept. 8, 2023.

For the second consecutive game, Owatonna allowed a long touchdown on the opponents’ first snap of the game, falling behind 6-0 when junior Max Elliot took a handoff, raced into the edge and sprinted into end zone from 71 yards out. Elliot also scored what turned out to be the game-deciding touchdown when he knifed through the OHS defense for a 35-yard catch-and-run with 9 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Owatonna — which led for the first time all season when Tristan Graham scored on a 10-yard run with 2:28 remaining in the opening stanza — was 0-for-2 in two trips deep into the red zone, including a fruitless possession that was snuffed out when Century stonewalled the Huskies on 4th-and-goal from just inside the Panthers’ 3 yard line with less than 20 seconds left before the break.

With a chance to grab the lead early in the fourth quarter, OHS also failed to find paydirt after setting up first-and-10 from the Century 13 yard line. A no-gain on a Graham run and two straight incomplete passes by Aiden Tackmann ended what was an otherwise promising drive. Owatonna’s junior quarterback finished 11-for-24 for 135 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Graham surpassed triple digits on the ground for the first time since the 2024 postseason, gaining 113 yards on 24 carries for a 4.7 per-carry average.

Owatonna junior receiver, Nolan Rolloff, caught a three passes for a team-high 48 yards.

Logan Risser accounted for two of the Huskies’ three sacks on the evening while Carter Flatland led the way with nine tackles.

Owatonna was whistled for seven penalties for 65 yards.

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