The last Friday night under the lights this fall did not disappoint.
Eden Prairie reverse helps reverse outcome
November 29, 2011 at 11:20PM
A week after convincing blowouts in the state semifinals, the two best football teams in Class 5A met for a second time this season in the 30th edition of the Prep Bowl.
Locked in another field goal battle five weeks after defending state champion Wayzata closed out the Lake Conference schedule with a 9-0 victory over Eden Prairie, this time the Eagles found the end zone once in a 13-3 triumph.
"Our defense is so phenomenal," said Eagles running back Andrew Larson, who rushed 33 times for 124 yards in the victory. "They shut down every team so it's kind of pressure on the offense to match the defense."
Larson's 10-yard touchdown run with under 3 minutes to play proved to be the only touchdown scored in 96 minutes of football between the two powerhouses this season.
How the score was set up and what it ended are equally impressive.
Facing 4th-and-14, the Eagles executed a reverse flea-flicker down to the 5-yard line. Larson rumbled in two plays later, and an interception on the ensuing drive sealed the championship.
It marked the first loss for Wayzata in 742 days, a 6-3 defeat at the hands of -- who else? -- Eden Prairie in the 2009 state quarterfinals. Since going 5-5 in 2006, Wayzata is 55-5 with the combined margin of defeat being 23 points.
Let them watchFirst-year Wayzata hockey coach Pat O'Leary agreed to move the Trojans' season-opening game last Friday night up two hours so hockey players, coaches and fans could make it to downtown Minneapolis for most of the Prep Bowl game if they wished.
"It wasn't really too tough to get it changed," O'Leary said. "It was the right thing to do."
Role switch for TrebilLongtime Holy Angels boys' hockey coach Greg Trebil announced this will be his final season behind the Stars bench. But the fixture will not be far away. Trebil, who has guided the team to a pair of state championships, will be responsible for all off-ice duties with the school's boys' and girls' teams in his new role of director of hockey operations, effective with the 2012-13 season. Stars alum Billy Hengen, an assistant with the team, will take over as boys' coach.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
