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Lakers fall to Shakopee, home opener against Edina ahead

By Taylor Smith, 09/16/21, 1:00PM CDT

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Prior Lake's defense was no match for Shakopee's rushing attack, they'll hope for better luck against Edina.

Week #2 recap: Shakopee

Receiver/running back Joey Krouse caught five passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns but it wasn’t enough as the 6th-ranked Shakopee Sabers defeated the 9th-ranked Prior Lake Lakers 49-27 on Sept. 10 at Shakopee West Middle School.

The result kept the Sabers (2-0 Overall, 1-0 Metro Gold South) ranked 6th in the Associated Press Class 6A Rankings released Sept. 15 while the Lakers (1-1 Overall, 0-1 Metro Gold South) dropped out of the rankings.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, Shakopee set the tone right from the opening kickoff with a 50-yard kick return into Prior Lake territory. Three plays later, the Sabers, with their run-heavy triple-option offense, had already found the end zone on a 22-yard run by quarterback Dominic Jackson to give Shakopee an early 7-0 lead.

The Prior Lake offense then went three-and-out on its first possession of the game and was forced to punt, setting the Sabers up near midfield. A couple of long runs advanced the ball into the red zone before Jackson connected with receiver Nick Katona on a fade route in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown on Shakopee’s first pass play of the season to extend the Saber lead to 14-0 early.

Krouse returned the ensuing kickoff inside the Shakopee 35-yard line but the Laker offense could not take advantage, turning the ball over on downs after an incompletion from quarterback Kyle Haas on a pass intended for Krouse on fourth down.

Shakopee moved the ball down the field on their next drive but the Laker defense stood tall, making an important fourth down stop of their own near the Laker 30-yard line at the end of the first quarter.

The two teams traded punts on their first possessions of the second quarter.

On the next drive, facing a third-and-6 from the Laker 24-yard line, Haas dropped back to pass, threw the ball deep down the middle of the field and connected with Krouse, who caught the ball, broke a tackle and sprinted down the sideline before being dragged out of bounds inside the 5-yard line after a 73-yard gain. Running back Ryan Horejsi rumbled into the end zone on the next play for the Laker touchdown and kicker Logan Lehrer’s extra point cut the Shakopee lead to 14-7 about halfway thru the second quarter.

However, Shakopee then put together a 12-play 68-yard that took over five and a half minutes off the clock and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by fullback Jadon Hellerud to extend the Shakopee lead to 21-7 with 22 seconds left in the half.

It looked like it would be a 14 point margin at halftime but on the first play of the next drive, Haas dropped back to pass and threw to his left toward receiver Kellan Miller but the ball was thrown behind Miller and deflected up in the air into the waiting arms of a Saber defender, who intercepted the ball and returned it into the end zone in the closing seconds of the half to make the score 28-7 Sabers.

While it was a large deficit at the half, Prior Lake did not go down quietly as Krouse returned the second half kickoff near midfield and then on the very next play running back Grayson Spronk took a handoff from Haas and sprinted thru a big hole created by the Laker offensive line and into the end zone. Lehrer’s extra point cut the Saber lead back to 28-14.

Then, the Shakopee offense went back to their strong running attack with a 12-play 85-yard drive, finished off by another Hellerud touchdown to push lead to 35-14 over halfway thru the third quarter.

The Lakers answered back with a 13-play 83-yard drive of their own, which was capped by a 27-yard touchdown pass from Haas to Krouse on the last play of the third quarter. Krouse caught the ball on a corner route near the 5-yard line and dove toward the pylon for the score, cutting the lead again to 14 points at 35-21.

However, the night of long scoring drives continued as the Sabers then put together a 12-play 73-yard drive, capped with yet another Hellerud touchdown to push the score to 42-21.

Prior Lake then needed tp use their hurry-up offense with the clock running down and scored quickly, with multiple double digit yard passes and finishing with a 14-yard pass from Haas to Krouse on a wheel route for the score. The Lakers opted to go-for-two after Shakopee jumped offside on the initial extra point attempt but the try was unsuccessful, making the score 42-27 with just under four minutes left in the game.

Prior Lake decided to attempt an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and almost recovered Lehrer’s kick when a pair of Lakers dove towards the ball and a pile ensued. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Shakopee emerged from the pile with the football.

Four plays later, the Sabers put the game out of reach with a 9-yard touchdown run by Chandler Ross Jr and reach the final score of 49-27.

Statistically, Haas finished 8 for 17 with 164 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Spronk had eight carries for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Krouse had five catches for 133 yards.

Defensively, linebacker Aidan McGowan was the leading tackler with 10 tackles while lineman Martin Owusu and linebacker Aiden Gegenheimer each had nine tackles.

Week #3 Preview: Edina

The Lakers will play their first home game in front of a full capacity crowd on Sept. 17 when they welcome the Edina Hornets to Dan Patch Stadium for a 7pm kickoff.

The two teams met in Week 2 of the 2020 season, a 42-0 Prior Lake win at Dan Patch Stadium.

The Hornets (0-2 Overall, 0-1 Metro Gold) are led by second-year Head Coach Jason Potts, who came to Edina before the 2020 season after previously serving as the offensive coordinator at Robbinsdale Armstrong. Potts is known for running a spread-style offense.

Edina lost to Minnetonka 30-7 in Week 1 and lost to Rosemount 31-19 in Week 2.

Quarterback Adam Berghult is the Hornets’ leading passer with 23 completions on 36 attempts for 273 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in two games. Quarterback Finn McElroy has received reps at the position as well will 11 completions on 22 attempts for 118 yards, a touchdown and an interception in one game.

Running back Evan Deutch has 22 carries for 76 yards on the season.

The Hornets use a number of different receivers. Receiver Parker Durkin leads the team in catches with 10 receptions for 68 yards so far on the season.

The result of the game may be important for seeding down the road as both teams reside in Section 6AAAAAA.

Notes

Kickoff at Dan Patch Stadium on Friday is scheduled for 7pm.

It will be the home football streaming debut of PL Lakers Live, which will be the streaming home for many Laker sports throughout the school year. Per @PLLakersLive on Twitter, the stream will be live at the following link:

https://www.plhsactivities.org/lakerslive

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

Be sure to check back next week for a recap of the Edina game as well as a preview of the Week 4 matchup vs Lakeville North.

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


Photo by Taylor Smith