How do you stay atop the Metro Top 10? Play some Eden Prairie football

Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant has been around long enough, and won enough, that he enjoys having a little fun at the expense of the earnest, gullible media types who gather around him after games.

That was the case after the Eagles withstood a spirited comeback attempt from Minnetonka on Thursday. After Eden Prairie took a seemingly comfortable 21-point halftime lead, injury-ravaged Minnetonka regrouped and took a page out of Grant's tried-and-true playbook: The Skippers put the ball in the hands of their best athletes, regardless of their stated positions. A flurry of flags went their way, and late in the third quarter, a game that seemed to be on ice was in doubt. Minnetonka cut the deficit to a single touchdown at 21-14.

Grant and Eden Prairie then did what they have done so well for years: play straight-ahead football. Eden Prairie put together a game-clinching, 22-play, 92-yard drive that took more than nine minutes to compete. When Dominic Heim powered over from 2 yards out, the Eagles' margin was back to two touchdowns, 28-14, and only 3:56 remained.

Game over.

When asked if he enjoyed the victory, Grant issued a typical tongue-in-cheek answer: "No, I don't enjoy games that much." He was joking, of course, but that opened up discussion about his team's mistakes that led to Minnetonka's first touchdown: "When you get three penalties to give them a drive down the field, that's not a lot of fun."

When asked how Eden Prairie put together the game-clinching drive, his response was "squats." He elaborated: "Those drives are made in the winter. We always laugh that when a kid comes up a yard short of something, 'One more squat and you would have had it.'"

Jokes aside, Grant let us in on one of the secrets of his success: practice. Heim's touchdown play had been run so often before, it was second nature. "We want to run high-percentage plays that you run over and over," he said. "That play that we ran there, every Wednesday or Thursday we run that play over and over and over again, just against air. To be fast, to do it right."

Eden Prairie remains atop the Metro Top 10 this week. The rankings:

1. Eden Prairie (6-0): While I think the Eagles are not unbeatable — double negative, I know — they've stood tall when challenged. And they're the only unbeaten team in 6A, the state's largest class. Last week: 1.

2. Maple Grove (5-1): You know a program has arrived when it reaches plug-and-play status. The Crimson lost a lot of talent and leadership from 2022's undefeated championship team, but they've filled those holes and are right back near the top. Last week: 4.

3. Lakeville North (5-1): The Panthers are a late fourth-quarter meltdown in a Week 3 loss to their southside brethren away from being undefeated. Last week: 6.

4. Lakeville South (5-1): The Cougars, who seem to always find a way to win, were stunned by a touchdown pass and ensuing two-point conversion with two seconds left in a 22-21 lost to Rosemount. Last week: 2.

5. Chanhassen (5A, 6-0): Too low? The top team in Class 5A has talent enough to compete with any team in the state. Last week: 5.

6. Minnetonka (5-1): The undermanned Skippers were just as impressive in their loss to Eden Prairie, rallying from a 21-point deficit, as they have been all season. Last week: 3.

7. Stillwater (5-1): After a 346-yard, four-touchdown passing performance in a 38-14 romp over White Bear Lake, sophomore QB Nick Kinsey has now thrown for 1,503 yards and 16 TDs in only six games. Shikenjanski who? Last week: 8.

8. Centennial (5-1): Down by seven to Anoka early, the brawny Cougars bullied their way to 392 yards rushing and five scores on the ground, scoring 35 consecutive points in a 35-15 win. Last week: 9.

9. Rogers (5A, 6-0): When Kalvin Eull gets a whiff of the end zone, there's no stopping him. He ran for 192 yards and four TDs in a 31-14 victory over Elk River, his second game this season with at least four touchdowns. Last week: 7.

10 (tie). Rosemount (4-2): Maki Whelan is not just a track and field star. The senior RB ran for a touchdown, caught a TD pass and threw for the game-winning two-point conversion to beat Lakeville South. Last week: unranked.

10 (tie). Woodbury (4-2): Nobody runs it against the Royals' massive defensive front, led by immovable objects in 312-pound Joe Norby and 309-pound Mathias Sengsouvanna. Last week: unranked.

Also worth consideration: Forest Lake (3-3), Anoka (4-2), St. Thomas Academy (5A, 5-1).