Week #8 Recap: Buffalo
The Prior Lake Lakers opened the game with a 17-play 10-minute touchdown drive as they defeated the Buffalo Bison 23-0 on October 17 at Dan Patch Stadium.
The Lakers (4-4 Overall, 1-4 Metro West) closed the regular season winning their final three games while the Bison (5-3 Overall, 5-0 Metro Maroon) dropped their final two regular season contests.
The game was windy from the start and the Bison won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Kicking off, Buffalo opted to kick behind a strong tailwind hoping to take advantage in the first quarter.
With the wind blowing strongly in their face, the Lakers methodically moved the ball down the field with 17 straight run plays that took up most of the first quarter, capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Levi Eiter on a toss play to the left. Kicker Mason Storlie’s extra point made the score 7-0 Lakers with 1:51 left in the first quarter.
The teams exchanged punts on the next two possessions into the second quarter.
Buffalo then moved the ball near their 40-yard line but ultimately had to punt. Interestingly, the Bison chose to kick in a typical field goal formation instead of a punt formation, something that is legal in high school football.
Prior Lake then put together a 9-play 60-yard drive, highlighted by a 35-yard swing pass from quarterback Myles Greenwood to Eiter and finished off by a 2-yard touchdown run by receiver Aiden Mbinda on a jet sweep. Storlie kicked the extra point to make the score 14-0 Lakers with 27 seconds left in the half.
The score remained 14-0 at halftime.
The Laker defense forced a three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half to give Prior Lake possession near midfield.
Eiter advanced the ball near the red zone on a long run but the drive ultimately stalled. Storlie kicked a 41-yard field goal through the uprights to give Prior Lake a 17-0 lead with 7:15 left in the third quarter.
The Bison picked up one first down on the next possession. However, the drive came to a halt thanks to a pass breakup on third down by cornerback Noah Kalipe to force a punt.
Three plays into the ensuing drive, Eiter took a handoff to the right, sprinted through a hole created by the offensive line and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown to increase the Laker lead to 23-0 with 3:57 left in the third quarter.
The Lakers opted for a trick play on the two-point conversion attempt but receiver/cornerback Luke Loehlein’s pass intended for Greenwood fell incomplete and the try was unsuccessful.
Buffalo had their most successful drive of the day on their next possession when they took nine plays and advanced the ball to the Prior Lake 39-yard line, however, a strong pass rush and good coverage forced an incomplete pass and turnover on downs as the clock expired on the third quarter.
Prior Lake did not score on the next possession but put the game out of reach on the next drive with 10 plays that ran out the majority of the clock. The Bison made a stop on fourth down inside their own 10-yard line but by that time the clock had made the game out of reach with under six minutes left.
The Laker defense ultimately made a fourth down stop before the offense ran out the remainder of the clock and sealed the 23-0 Prior Lake victory.
Statistically, Greenwood completed 3 of 6 passes for 60 yards.
Eiter led the way with 26 carries for 168 yards and a touchdown. He also had two catches for 54 yards
Running back TJ Peterson had six carries for 26 yards.
Linebackers Sean Nadeau and Jackson Koenig were the leading tacklers with six tackles. Lineman Skyler Werner had five tackles.
Storlie kicked a 41-yard field goal, was 2 for 2 on extra points and had four touchbacks on kickoffs.
Section Playoffs Preview: Farmington
The Lakers earned the #5 seed and will travel to #4 seed Farmington to begin the playoffs on October 25 at 7pm at Farmington High School.
The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of the #1 seed Mounds View/#8 seed Coon Rapids game on Friday November 1 at 7pm at the high seed.
Prior Lake and Farmington used to be conference rivals in football in the now-defunct Missota Conference dating back to 1960 and played for a traveling trophy nicknamed “The Can” until the Lakers left the Missota Conference for the South Suburban Conference in 2010. Prior Lake holds the all-time series lead 20-17 and won the last matchup 60-7 in 2014 at Dan Patch Stadium.
The Tigers (5-3 Overall, 2-3 Metro South), led by fourth-year co-head coaches Jon Pieper and Rick Sutton, finished fourth in the Metro South District.
Prior Lake has some familiarity with Sutton as he was previously the head coach at Eagan when the Lakers and Wildcats faced each other regularly in the South Suburban Conference.
The Lakers and Tigers faced each other briefly in a preseason scrimmage in late August at Dan Patch Stadium.
So far in 2024, Farmington has reached its highest win total since 2021 when they won 6 games and lost to Eden Prairie in the state quarterfinals. This season, the Tigers defeated Mounds View in overtime 28-26 in Week 1, lost to Lakeville South 50-29 in Week 2, defeated Rochester Mayo 40-36 in Week 3, lost to Lakeville North 27-20 in Week 4, defeated Rosemount 21-14 in Week 5, lost to Eagan 18-10 in Week 6, defeated Burnsville 50-14 in Week 7 and defeated Coon Rapids 48-6 in Week 8.
Duel-threat quarterback Jonah Ask leads Farmington’s offense, completing 85 of 122 passes for 1,199 yards, ten passing touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has 80 carries for 576 yards and ten rushing touchdowns.
Star receiver Brock Wyandt is Ask’s top target through the air. Wyandt has 34 catches for 566 yards and four receiving touchdowns on the season. He is a threat in the running game as well with 45 carries for 295 yards and five rushing touchdowns. Wyandt is committed to play football at Northern State.
Receivers Cody Rezny and Cole Wilcek are other receiving targets. Rezny has 25 catches for 341 yards and three touchdowns while Wilcek has 14 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Layne Johnson is the Tigers’ lead back with 99 carries for 582 yards and six touchdowns.
Linebacker Chris Rehak leads the Tigers defense with 78 tackles.
Notes
Kickoff at Farmington High School on Friday is scheduled for 7pm.
GameTime Media, which PL Lakers Live is a part of, will be streaming this week’s game at Farmington in partnership with NSPN, also called Prep Spotlight TV. Be sure to check the PL Lakers Live website for more information on how to watch as the game approaches.
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 Farmington game if the Lakers win and a preview of the second-round playoff matchup.
Taylor Smith can be reached at tay1@me.com or on Twitter at @taysmith2013.
Photo by Taylor Smith