The ninth-ranked Rochester Mayo football team had been playing with fire all season and finally got burned on Friday night.

Courtesy of the Owatonna Huskies.

Squaring off against a Spartans squad that had pulled a few rabbits out of their proverbial hat throughout the first six weeks of the season — including last week’s miracle win over Rochester John Marshall — the Huskies scored on a blocked punt and a broken fourth down scramble in the game’s final 5 minutes, 13 seconds to complete an improbable comeback against its biggest contemporary rival.

The final score: Owatonna 21, Rochester Mayo 20.

“They played their hearts out,” Owatonna coach, Jeff Williams, said of his team that completed its district slate with a 3-2 record and will almost certainly secure the No. 3 seed in the Section 1-5A tournament. “Our kids didn’t quit and got the (momentum) back with the punt block and then the offense came through when we needed to and the defense did the same. And some huge special teams plays as well.”

Trailing 20-7 in the middle of the fourth quarter, Owatonna’s Carson Bock blocked a punt inside the Mayo 10 yard line and Cooper Aul fell on the loose ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

The Huskies’ defense came up clutch once again on the ensuing possession — forcing another fourth-and-long — and took advantage of a critical Spartans’ miscue, swinging Mayo’s punter to the turf after he attempted to escape the rush following a bad snap.

Owatonna gained possession at the Spartans’ 27, drove inside the 10 yard line and ultimately scored on a 7-yard Aedan Tackmann scramble up the middle on fourth down. The extra point by Landen Sturges split the uprights and the atmosphere inside the stadium reached a fever pitch as the Huskies’ danced to the sideline after ringing up what turned out to be the game-winning tally against the presumptive No. 1 seed in the forthcoming sectional tournament.

“It was a gutsy play,” Williams said of Tackmann’s game-winning touchdown run with 51 seconds on the clock. “I love him running for daylight.”

Tristan Graham popped off several key runs and racked up 157 yards on 32 carries.

“He’s not necessarily a guy who is going to go 70, but he can go 12 a lot,” Williams said of his senior tailback. “He found creases and the line did a nice job of opening up some cracks and he hit them hard tonight. He’s not  even 100 percent, but he’s such a warrior.”

Sophomore Cooper Routh snared his third touchdown pass of the season on a 20-yard connection from Tackmann with 25 seconds left before halftime to draw the Huskies within 10-7. Routh finished with a team-high three catches for 53 yards.

Spearheaded by an air-tight defensive backfield unit of Aul, Vincente Chavez, Nolan Johnson and Nolan Rolloff, the Huskies held the state’s leading passer by completion percentage, Isaac Peterson, to just 13-for-35 (37.1%) for 194 yards.

Peterson — who came into the game having completed 72.3% of his passes through the first six games — was intercepted on his final attempt of the contest, Chavez tracking down the deep pass near the end zone and cradling it in his grasp as he fell to the turf with just one second on the clock.

From there, it was a kneel-down by Tackmann followed by a well-deserved celebration for the home-standing Huskies.

Owatonna will play Apple Valley on a short week this Wednesday before embarking on the Section 1-5A tournament beginning Tuesday, Oct. 21.

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OWATONNA 21, ROCHESTER MAYO 20

SECOND QUARTER

M-Lincoln Majerus 70 pass from Isaac Peterson (Miles Ties kick), 11:50

M-Ties 25 field goal, 5:16

O-Cooper Routh 20 pass from Aedan Tackmann (Landen Sturges kick), 0:25

THIRD QUARTER

M-Gavin Wernburg 10 pass from Peterson (Ties kick), 7:41

FOURTH QUARTER

M-Ties 44 field goal, 8:00

O-Cooper Aul block punt recovery, 5:13

O-Tackmann 7 run (Sturges kick), 0:51

FINAL STATS

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