Hullopeter scores five in Huskies’ 42-21 win

Owatonna squared off with Northfield in a clash between the Northstar – South-Maroon Division’s top two teams and left with sole possession of first place after beating the Raiders 42-21 at home.

The Huskies’ offense was on fire all night, mainly behind the efforts of senior runningback Kade Hullopeter, who managed 297 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 38 attempts.

Hullopeter’s big night started after Northfield took an initial 7-0 lead early in the first quarter with a 48-yard passing touchdown.

The workhorse runningback hit the field for the team’s second possession of the game and immediately went to work by racking up every yard during the team’s first scoring drive of the game.

After multiple chunk gains, Hullopeter eventually found the endzone on a five-yard rush that tied the game at 7-7 near the end of the first quarter.

Northfield responded well with another explosive play to kick off the second quarter and scored again with a 27-yard passing touchdown to lead 14-7, but the lead wouldn’t last long.

Another Hullopeter-heavy drive resulted in the standout runningback reaching paydirt again, this time capping an eight-play, 64-yard drive with another five-yard rushing touchdown.

Owatonna’s extra point attempt was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 14-13 in the Raiders’ favor.

The Huskies managed to stop Northfield with a three-and-out the ensuing possession following the kickoff, allowing the red-hot Owatonna offense a chance to take its first lead.

A short punt gave Owatonna field position at the Raiders’ 48-yard line for excellent field position and after just four plays, the team had made it to the nine for a goal-to-go opportunity.

Hullopeter was the team’s primary weapon again and handled every touch inside the 10 before scoring on his third five-yard rush of the game.

Owatonna opted to go for two and added the points when quarterback Aedan Tackmann hit runningback Carson Bock on a play-action pass in the flat after faking another run up the middle.

The score put the Huskies up 21-14; a lead the Huskies would carry into halftime.

Action heated up immediately in the second half when Northfield’s return man fielded the opening kickoff at his own 10-yard line and found space up the middle to take the ball all the way to the house for the game-tying touchdown.

Owatonna’s own special teams unit set itself up nicely by returning the ensuing kickoff to its own 39-yard line to begin the next drive.

The power-run game continued to shine, but this time it was the arm of Tackmann that worked just as efficiently during a 16-play, 61-yard drive.

The senior quarterback went 5/6 for 36 yards on the drive and used his legs to score a three-yard quarterback sneak to give Owatonna a 28-21 lead over halfway through the third quarter.

Another Northfield three-and-out on the following possession proved costly for the Raiders’ comeback chances.

Now back to a seven-point lead, Owatonna continued to chew up clock and ran out the time in the third quarter with a steady diet of run plays while flipping field position heavily in its favor.

The Huskies began the fourth from the Northfield 33-yard line and scored just three plays later on a 16-yard rush by Hullopeter.

When both teams went back to their sidelines after the Huskies’ fifth touchdown of the game, it became obvious that there was a major difference in energy between the two teams.

Owatonna’s smash-mouth run game had managed to keep the Raiders’ defense on the field for multiple drives of 10 plays or more while the Huskies’ defense continued to hold Northfield to short, three-and-out drives.

The result: a deflated Northfield team that didn’t have the gas tank to make plays when it mattered most.

Now battling the clock as well, the Raiders’ next drive ended in three plays as Owatonna’s defense intelligently opted to limit explosive-play opportunities and force Northfield out of its comfort zone.

With time winding down, Owatonna scored the final touchdown of the game on a 17-yard rush by Hullopeter to cap the scoring at 42-21.

Hullopeter’s career day was more than enough to propel the Huskies into first place in the Northstar – South-Maroon Division with a perfect 4-0 conference record and a flashy 5-1 overall mark.

Up next for Owatonna is a road matchup against Rochester Mayo on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

The Spartans have struggled their way to a 3-3 overall record so far in 2026, but have been heating up in recent weeks with two straight wins over Rochester Century and John Marshall to reach the .500 mark again.

Player Stats

Owatonna

Passing

#7 Aedan Tackmann – 8/12 71 yards 1 Int.

Rushing

#21 Kade Jullopeter – 38 att. 297 yards 5 TD; #22 Carson Bock – 3 att. 11 yards; #26 Zachary Roesner – 5 att. 9 yards; #7 Tackmann – 3 att. -9 yards 1 TD

Receiving

#8 Lee Smith – 3 rec. 34 yards; #22 Bock – 2 rec. 18 yards; #1 Cooper Routh – 1 rec. 12 yards; #26 Roesner – 1 rec. 8 yards; #21 Hullopeter – 1 rec. -1 yard