Fair / 48° F
Otters rally to beat Storm 28-27
Published 5:43am Tuesday, September 4, 2012SAUK RAPIDS — The Fergus Falls Otters were able to ride out the storm as they defeated Sauk Rapids-Rice on two late touchdowns 28-27 Friday evening.
The Otters started hot as Walker Heinen opened the game with a 73 yard rush to get Fergus on the board first.
The Fergus defense was able to force a punt from the Storm and the Otter offense was ready to strike again as quarterback Brady Hansen found Reece Johnson for a 70 yard touchdown.
Sauk Rapids responded with as Brady Lain separated from the defense and scored on a 46 yard touchdown from quarterback Joel Haller.
The Otters would go into halftime holding on to a 14-6 lead.
The Strom became aggressive in the third quarter as they crossed the goalline twice with a 20 yard run by Chris Kesek and a Jake Lynch four yard run to take a 20-14 lead over the Otters.
It looked like the game was slipping away from the Otters after a eight yard touchdown reception by Jeff Sundquist, but that is when the fun started for the Otters.
With less than four minutes remaining, Fergus put together two scoring drives. Bradie Wahlgren caught a Hansen pass for a 30 yard touchdown to cut the lead to six.
Heinen recorded his second touchdown of the night on a 40 yard draw play with a minute and a half remaining in the game for the win.
“We talked during the week about when bad things happen,” Otters coach Richard Risbrudt said. “We have to stay focused and execute what we came to do and we were able to do that tonight.”
Heinen led the Otter rushers with 170 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns, while teammate Johnson finished the evening with seven receptions for 127 yards and a score in the win.
The Otters will open their home season against the Willmar Cardinals Friday at 7 p..m.
