Week #2 Recap: Shakopee

The Shakopee Sabers scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a halfback pass touchdown on the opening play of the quarter as they defeated the Prior Lake Lakers 28-7 Sept. 8 at Vaughn Field.

Prior Lake (1-1 Overall, 0-1 Metro West) had won six straight matchups against Shakopee (2-0 Overall, 1-0 Metro West) prior to the Sabers winning two out of the last three head-to-head contests.

Defense led the way for much of the night on both sides, with scores coming at a premium.

The teams exchanged punts on their respective opening possessions.

The Sabers got on the board on their third possession with a methodical 14-play 69-yard drive, made up entirely of run plays. The Lakers thought they had forced a fumble near the goal line and recovered in the end zone but the runner was ruled down by contact before the ball came out. Shakopee fullback TJ Clark scored two plays later to give the Sabers a 7-0 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

The Lakers then fumbled on the quarterback-center exchange in the closing seconds of the first quarter but the Prior Lake defense immediately got a turnover on downs to give the ball right back to the Laker offense.

On third-and-5 from the Prior Lake 24-yard line, it appeared as though the Lakers got their first big play of the night, a play-action pass from quarterback Myles Greenwood to receiver/running back Jaxson Barrett down the middle of the field but it was called back for holding and Prior Lake ultimately had to punt.

Shakopee moved the ball deep into Laker territory on the ensuing drive but a holding penalty on a would-be touchdown run moved the Sabers back out of field goal range and the Prior Lake defense made another fourth down stop, this time a sack by defensive lineman Jide Abasiri.

Prior Lake had perhaps their best offensive drive of the night right before halftime. Facing third-and-19 at their own 14-yard line, Greenwood dropped back and threw the ball deep down the middle of the field to Barrett, who leaped and caught the ball between three Shakopee defenders to pick up the first down.

Another completion to Barrett as well as a completion to tight end Reece Brenna and a late-hit penalty moved the ball near the Shakopee red zone. However, the drive stalled after Greenwood was sacked on third down and his fourth-down pass attempt fell incomplete in the closing seconds of the half.

Shakopee led 7-0 at halftime.

The Lakers then went three-and-out on offense and the Sabers blocked the ensuing punt attempt to set up the Sabers at the Lakers 26-yard line.

Prior Lake’s defense then made another huge stop to thwart the Shakopee threat when Abasiri and lineman Reid Permuth combined for a sack on fourth down to give the ball back to the Lakers.

However, Prior Lake’s offense couldn’t muster anything on the next possession and had to punt.

The play of the night for the Laker defense came on the next possession when Shakopee attempted to run an option play but linebacker Jason Green hit the running back in the backfield, causing a fumble. Linebacker Dylan Hawley scooped up the ball near the Saber 34-yard line and sprinted into the end zone for the Prior Lake touchdown. Kicker Mason Storlie added the extra point to tie the game 7-7 with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the tie score was short-lived. After Shakopee moved the ball across midfield and the third quarter came to a close, the Sabers connected on a 45-yard halfback pass play for a touchdown to retake the lead 14-7 with 11:50 left in regulation.

The teams exchanged punts on the next two possessions.

The Lakers had perhaps their best chance to get back in the game on their next drive when they moved the ball to near midfield but a swing pass to Levi Eiter was stopped in the backfield and then Greenwood’s deep pass attempt to receiver Aiden Mbinda was intercepted to give the ball back to the Sabers.

Facing third-and-5 at the Prior Lake 28-yard line, Clark broke the game open for Shakopee on a fullback dive play where he sprinted through the middle of the Prior Lake defense for a 28-yard touchdown to increase the Sabers lead to 21-7 with 3:57 left in regulation.

Prior Lake’s final opportunity of the game came on a fourth-and-11 when Greenwood threw towards Eiter near the first down marker but the ball bounced off of Eiter’s shoulder and was intercepted by Shakopee to seal the Sabers victory.

The Sabers added another touchdown a few plays later to reach the 28-7 final score.

Statistically, Greenwood completed 12 of 21 passes for 60 yards and two interceptions.

Eiter was the leading rusher with six carries for 13 yards.

Barrett was the leading receiver with three catches for 23 yards.

Linebacker Drew Hendrickson was the leading tackler with 13 tackles, while Hawley and safety Hunter MacGillivray each had 11 tackles. Abasiri also had nine tackles and a sack.

Week #3 Preview: Eden Prairie

The Lakers will welcome perennial powerhouse Eden Prairie to Dan Patch Stadium on Sept. 14 at 7pm.

Eden Prairie enters the matchup ranked 1st in the latest AP 6A Poll while Prior Lake is unranked in the same poll.

Prior Lake has never beaten Eden Prairie since the two teams started facing each other regularly in 2013.

Eden Prairie (2-0 Overall, 1-0 Metro West) defeated Buffalo 48-7 in Week 1 and Edina 36-14 in Week 2.

Eden Prairie is coached by Mike Grant, son of longtime Vikings coach Bud Grant.

Thursday’s game may also be important for section seeding purposes as both the Lakers and the Eagles reside in Section 6AAAAAA. Five of the six remaining regular season games for Prior Lake are against section opponents, a product of the revamped 6A schedules for 2023 to better allow playoff seeding to be decided on the field.

Notes

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

It is also Prior Lake’s Tackle Cancer game.

PL Lakers Live will be streaming the game at the following link:

https://gametimemn.com/pl-lakers-live/

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 Eden Prairie game and a preview of the matchup against Minnetonka.

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