Miscues plague Eagles in battle with high-powered Edina

Week 3 can’t come soon enough for head coach Mike Grant’s Eden Prairie football team.

That’s because Week 2 came to a disappointing conclusion on Friday night, when the Eagles traveled to a packed Kuhlman Stadium in Edina in hopes of avenging their 2023 state semifinal playoff loss to the Hornets.

More importantly, the Eagles, ranked second in the Star Tribune Top 20 football rankings, were looking for their second win of the season with a victory over No. 2 ranked Edina.

It was not to be.

The Hornets picked up where they left off in November, relying on the arm of junior quarterback Mason West, whose precise delivery resulted in four passing touchdowns in a 35-14 victory.

Edina reversed the regular-season result from last September when Eden Prairie trounced the visiting Hornets 36-14.

A new rivalry seems to be materializing between these neighboring powers.

“We beat them by this score last year in the second game, and they came back and had a great run in the playoffs,” Grant said. “So you’ve got to just forget it.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Edina ran off three straight second-quarter scores as West connected with senior receiver Meyer Swinney twice for touchdowns before halftime.

Their second scoring connection followed a failed fourth-down conversion by the Eagles’ offense, giving the Hornets the ball on their own 42-yard line.

The turnover on downs resulted from an Eden Prairie fumble on the snap. The miscue came at an inopportune time, ending a promising offensive series in which Eden Prairie had finally found rhythm, moving from their own 32-yard line to the Edina 42.

Edina wasted no time to capitalize.

Mason hit Swinney for a 50-yard strike on the first play from scrimmage, setting up a 5-yard touchdown pass to Swinney with 35 seconds remaining in the first half.

Edina took a 21-0 lead into the locker room at the break.

Eden Prairie senior defensive back Vaughn Feely said that coming into the game, the No. 1 priority for the Eagles’ defense was to stop Edina’s potent passing attack.

“That’s probably their best strength that they have. But I feel like we didn’t practice it very well,” he said. “We’ve just got to be better in practice. I think that’s the key to it.”

West and Swinney combined for four touchdowns in the game. They connected for 86 yards and a touchdown on the second play of the third quarter to take a 28-0 lead.

West finished 17 of 24 passing for 270 yards and four touchdowns, while giving up a first-quarter interception to Eden Prairie senior Max Kukla.

“We made a lot of great plays, we gave up a lot of big plays in their passing game, and they’re just really good,” Grant said. “We just have to be better.”

Despite the score, much of the stat sheet was balanced between the two teams. Edina generated 348 yards of total offense to Eden Prairie’s 300. 

The Eagles had 13 first downs to Edina’s 18, with 11 of the Hornets’ first downs coming in the passing game.

“If you watch film, we had a lot of first downs,” Grant said. “We ran the ball pretty well. It’s just mental mistakes.”

The Eagles compiled 211 rushing yards behind senior running back Elijah Rumph, who led all rushers with 22 carries for 123 yards, an average of 5.6 yards per carry.

But for Eden Prairie, the difference could be traced to mental errors. The Eagles had six infractions for 38 yards, underscoring a night of miscues at crucial moments in the game.

“We got a lot of young guys making mistakes,” Grant said. “And if we clean up the game, we’re right in the game. We knew it would be a battle right to the end.”

The Eagles finally got on the board with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter. 

Junior quarterback Jackson Bakkum found senior receiver Max Lorenson on a 39-yard connection. Lorenson showed exceptional concentration on the play, juggling the ball before hauling it in as he raced to the end zone.

Lorenson had two catches for 48 yards and the touchdown. Bakkum finished 5-of-11, passing for 89 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Bakkum connected with junior tight end Braden Minta from 28 yards out with 6:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. But it was too little, too late.

“We made a lot of mistakes, but I think the second half was better,” senior linebacker Matthew Ivey said. “We were able to rally and have some teamwork, have some camaraderie, and just bring the energy despite the fact you’re down.”

After the contest, Grant spoke to the team at midfield, as is standard practice following all Eden Prairie games. The message was simple: “We’ve got to play better and eliminate mistakes,” Grant told the team.

Following the full team gathering, players broke into position groups to share final thoughts on the game. The offensive line contingent received a vocal and spirited address from junior guard Ethan Sather.

“I was just saying that mistakes can happen. It’s how we respond,” Sather said afterward. “Honestly, as an O-line, there’s mistakes. That’s gonna happen. How do we respond? We need to just come back Monday and get back to work and have a good game (next week).”

And next week will be greeted with open arms by the Eagles, a team ready to put a disappointing Week 2 in the rearview mirror and get back in the win column. 

Eden Prairie will play their first game of the season on their home turf, when they host Prior Lake on Thursday night at Aerie Stadium.

“They’re a big, physical team,” Grant said. “Every week, it’s gonna be a game like this, or you just can’t have mistakes. And we had too many mistakes in a big game like this.”