The Owatonna Huskies came to town for the Raiders season opener at Todd Field on August 29. In 2023, Hastings made the trip to Owatonna where the Raiders took the opening drive and turned it into seven points before losing 42-7. The Huskies went on to have an 8-3 record, advancing to the state tournament where they lost in the AAAAA quarterfinals to St. Thomas Academy 46-28. Perhaps the Huskies wanted revenge by proxy over the Raiders conference foe or maybe, they were just well equipped like last year to completely dismantle Hastings. Either way, the score for 2024 mimicked 2023 and the Huskies won handily, 50-7.
Hastings was unable to move the ball much most of the first half with the first three drives resulting in punts. The fourth drive ended with a fumble recovered by Owatonna at the Raider 27. Owatonna put Hastings in as many precarious positions as they could, an on-side kick, fumbles, interceptions, turnovers on downs. Whatever Hastings tried, Owatonna had an answer for, especially the Raiders offense. Hastings tried the Jet Sweep several times and each time, the Huskies sniffed it out for a loss.
Offensively for the Raiders, there were three players that stood out. Marlowe Strain from the tight end position is an offensive juggernaut. Strain caught almost everything thrown his way finishing with five catches for 92 yards. Matt Foss had the other two catches for 15 yards for a total of 107 yards offense through the air.
The other bright spots were Zach Shatek and Cole Zeien. Shatek had three carries, one of which he broke for a 57-yard touchdown run. Zeien ran 14 times for 45 yards, earning every inch he gained through the middle of a very stout defense.
At the quarterback position, Lucas Foss tossed the ball 18 times, completing seven passes for 107 yards. Overall, the lopsided score and the offensive numbers do not match up at first glance. Hastings had a total of 227 offensive yards to the Huskies 373. The difference was, Owatonna only started on their half of the field three times of their 11 possessions. Their average starting yard line was the Raiders 48, take out the three that were on their side of the field, that changes to the Raiders 39. The Raiders starting average field position was their own 25.
The Raiders schedule does not get any easier this week as they travel to Two Rivers on Sept. 6 for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. Then on Friday the 13th, they travel to Mahtomedi for another difficult conference opponent.