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Lakers knock off defending champs Wayzata in season opener

By Taylor Smith, 10/14/20, 4:30PM CDT

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A late two-point conversion and a missed field goal propelled the Lakers past the Class 6A champions.

Game recap: Wayzata

Quarterback Kyle Haas connected with tight end/linebacker Tanner Newlin on a go-ahead play-action pass for a two-point conversion with just over three minutes to go as the Prior Lake Lakers defeated the defending Class 6A State Champion Wayzata Trojans 29-28 Oct. 9 at Wayzata High School.

Following a 34-yard touchdown run by running back/safety Tyler Shaver cutting the then Trojan lead to 28-27, Prior Lake Head Coach Matt Gegenheimer opted to go for two and the lead instead of kicking the extra point and the decision paid off for the Lakers.

Haas faked a handoff to Shaver, rolled slightly to his right and flipped the ball toward a wide-open Newlin, who had been in motion on the play. Newlin corralled the ball as it bounced gently off his chest and into his hands as he fell to the ground securing the lead for the Lakers.

The game was not over yet as Wayzata marched down the field in the final few moments before opting to run the clock down and try a game-winning 31-yard field goal but the ball sailed wide left in the closing seconds, giving the Lakers the victory.

The sequence was a high point for the Lakers in the season opener but it was just one of many exciting moments in an unforgettable game.

After a quick and scoreless first quarter, the first key play of the game came on a punt from Haas, who lined up in shotgun formation but punted the ball deep into Wayzata territory. Receiver Joey Krouse downed the punt at the two-yard line, setting the Laker defense up in a favorable position.

A three-and-out by the defense and good punt return by Caleb Rios got the ball back to the Laker offense already in striking distance at the Trojan 24-yard line and Prior Lake took advantage on the very next play.

Haas took the snap, dropped back, threw and found a wide-open Shaver on a wheel route, who caught the ball around the 15-yard line and strolled into the end zone. Kicker Josh Keller’s extra point was good, giving the Lakers a 7-0 lead with 9:26 to go until halftime.

The lead was short-lived though as Wayzata answered a few plays later on a second down-and-nine from their own 20-yard line. Wayzata quarterback Ryan Harvey completed a pass across the middle to receiver Julian Diedrich, who broke a tackle near the 45-yard line and took off down the middle all the way into the end zone to tie the game at seven with 8:36 to go in the half.

The teams traded punts on the next few drives until the Trojans gained momentum late in the half when Harvey connected on a deep throw to Diedrich for a gain of 40 yards to just outside the Laker red zone.

A touchdown run by Harvey was called back a due to a holding penalty a few plays later but it didn’t matter as Harvey threw to Diedrich on the ensuing play, who was open in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown. The score gave the Trojans a 14-7 lead with 58 seconds left in the half.

The momentum continued for the Trojans on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, when a Wayzata defender punched the ball out of Shaver’s arms, forcing a fumble and a turnover.

A few plays later, Harvey connected with Diedrich as the clock was running out in the first half, who caught the ball near the five-yard line broke multiple Laker tackles and pushed across the goal line as time expired to give Wayzata a 21-7 lead at halftime.

Despite being down two scores, the Lakers came out strong in the second half. A three-and-out by the defense and a short punt set the offense up on the Wayzata side of midfield at the 46-yard line.

The Laker offense then flexed its muscles on a 13-play drive that consisted of only run plays. Good blocking by the offensive line and strong runs by Shaver, athlete Cam Miller and Newlin led the charge into the end zone, capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Miller. The extra point by Keller cut the Trojan lead to 21-14.

Prior Lake’s defense made another key stop on the next drive. With the Trojans facing a third-and-nine at midfield, Owen Dotseth, Billy Trees and other Lakers sacked Harvey and forced another punt.

On the ensuing drive, with the Lakers facing a second-and-six at their own 37-yard line, Shaver took a handoff from Haas, followed the left side of the offensive line and sprinted down the Prior Lake sideline all the way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. Keller’s kick tied the game at 21 with under a minute to go in the third quarter.

However, the Trojans put together a methodical 12-play 76-yard drive that took up nearly half of the fourth quarter to retake the lead at 28-21 with 7:12 to go in regulation.

The Lakers responded by going back to the run game with a heavy dose of Miller and Shaver. Facing a third-and-one from the Trojan 34-yard line, Shaver took the handoff, bounced off a couple Prior Lake linemen and exploded through a hole in the defense into the end zone.

Shaver’s touchdown run set up the two-point conversion pass from Haas to Newlin and the missed field goal gave the Lakers the season-opening win.

Shaver finished with 169 rushing yards on 21 carries and two rushing touchdowns while Miller had 70 yards of 15 carries.

Haas finished 4 for 9 passing for 57 yards and a touchdown, plus the two-point conversion to Newlin.

Shaver was also the leading receiver with two catches for 43 yards and a receiving touchdown, giving him a total of three touchdowns on the day.

Newlin and Rios were the leading tacklers with 10 tackles apiece, while linebacker Markus Knutsen had seven.

Next up: Edina

It will be a short week for the Lakers due to MEA break as they welcome the Edina Hornets to Dan Patch Stadium on Thursday October 15 at 7 p.m.

Prior Lake enters the matchup ranked third in the Associated Press Class 6A poll and ranked fifth in the Star Tribune’s Metro Top 10.

The Lakers (1-0) and the Hornets (0-1) last met in Week 4 of the 2019 season, a 27-24 Prior Lake victory at Kuhlman Field in Edina.

The 2020 version of the Edina Hornets may look a bit different under new Head Coach Jason Potts, who took over the program this season after former Head Coach Derrin Lamker left to take the head coach position at Augsburg University in Minneapolis.

Potts comes to Edina from Robbinsdale Armstrong High School where he was the offensive coordinator for the past six seasons. Potts’ offenses at Robbinsdale Armstrong had traditionally been known as a spread style, a contrast to the power-run style seen from Lamker’s Edina teams the past couple of seasons.

The Hornets lost to Maple Grove 25-3 in their season opener on Friday.

Edina aired it out a lot against Maple Grove with returning starter quarterback George Sandven completing 16 of his 32 passes for 148 yards and two interceptions.

Sandven threw for 146 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the 2019 game against the Lakers.

Kalid Ahmed was the leading receiver for the Hornets against Maple Grove with four catches for 49 yards while receiver Will Hanson had five catches for 22 yards.

Sawyer Anderson returns at running back for the Hornets. He only rushed for 10 yards on 14 carries in the season opener but rushed for 415 yards in 2019, including 90 yards and a touchdown against Prior Lake.

2020 Season Format

The high school football season format, like pretty much everything else in 2020, will look a little bit different this year.

Teams will play a six-week regular season, which began for the Lakers and most others in Class 6A and across the state on Friday Oct. 9. The regular season will conclude on Wednesday Nov. 11.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, teams will be seeded within their section by coaches vote as they have been the past several years. However, instead of the traditional 32-team bracket format, teams will play an eight-team section tournament against the teams that they seed with.

The other seven teams in Prior Lake’s section that they will seed with and play against in the section playoff tournament in 2020 are Burnsville, Eagan, Eastview, Farmington, Lakeville North, Lakeville South and Rosemount.

Interestingly, they are all members of the South Suburban Conference (including Prior Lake) apart from football. Prior Lake’s regular-season schedule used to be comprised of the majority of those schools before the switch from conferences to districts in Minnesota high school football in 2015.

The section quarterfinals are set to be held on Tuesday Nov. 17 followed by the section semifinals on Saturday Nov. 21 and the section final on Friday Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.

This format is what Classes 5A and smaller currently use to determine their section champions/state qualifiers during a normal season and the format that the state’s largest class used until 2012, a year after Prior Lake made its first state tournament appearance with a win over Eastview in the 2011 section final at Dan Patch Stadium.

There is no state tournament scheduled in 2020 so the section final will be the last game for teams who make it that far and a section championship will be the ultimate playoff prize this season.

Notes

Kickoff vs Edina on Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Dan Patch Stadium.

Due to MDH, MDE and MSHSL restrictions, only 250 fans will be allowed into the stadium.

If you can’t make it to the game, you can watch the online video stream with Ben Tressel and John Wahlstrom. The stream team will be streaming home games only in 2020 with the host site streaming the away games.

Follow @plhsfootball, @pl4lstreaming and @pllakers on Twitter for updates and links to the streams throughout the season.

Thursday is Senior Night so be sure to tune in around 6:15 p.m. to see our seniors honored pregame.

Be sure to check back next week for a recap of the Edina game as well as a preview of the matchup against Lakeville South.

Taylor Smith can be reached at tay1@me.com or on Twitter at @taysmith2013.


Photo by Taylor Smith