If local high school football fans wondered what was missing from the game the last half-decade or so, they were reminded Friday night.

Derrin Lamker.

The Osseo head coach, back on the Orioles’ sideline after a 10-year hiatus while he coached the Edina and Augsburg University programs, brought his trademark enthusiasm and energy front and center, willing his .500 team to a 23-21 victory over one-loss Andover.

Known for instilling confidence in his players, under Lamker, the Orioles rallied from a 14-point first-quarter deficit to defeat the No. 7-ranked team in Class 6A on a 30-yard field goal by Ethan Khamvongsouk as time expired.

“I told them, ‘Just keep playing and good things will happen,’ ” Lamker said. “And they did. No one complained. They just made their adjustments and believed.”

That Khamvongsouk made the game-winning kick was, in itself, a testament to the attitude Lamker and his coaches have brought to the team.

On Thursday, Khamvongsouk saw his soccer season end when Osseo lost to Mounds View in the Class 3A Section 5 tournament, but his mood wasn’t low.

A first-year football kicker, he knew the Orioles had faith in him. Khamvongsouk said he wasn’t nervous.

“Well, maybe a little,” Khamvongsouk admitted. “But I just had to keep my mind clear and just knock it through.”

Did it make up for the soccer team’s loss?

“This definitely made up for that,” he said, grinning.

In the first half, Andover made the game look like its own showcase. Quarterback Joseph Mapson put on a show, running and passing en route to a 14-0 lead.

“Even I was wondering, ‘Are they that good?’ ” Lamker said.

Mikey Criswell’s 51-yard touchdown run in the first quarter helped Osseo settle into the game.

“That was great for our morale,” said quarterback Wes Kranz.

Osseo’s defense stood tall, shutting out the Huskies in the second half and giving its offense a chance to work its way back into the game. In the fourth quarter, Osseo cut the lead to a single point on an 18-yard run by Kranz. The two-point conversion pass was incomplete, making it 21-20.

“There was never a time that we were down. We were confident the whole time,” said running back/defensive back Phillip Sieh. “That’s the Derrin Lamker effect.”