Who needs Eden Prairie?
Minnesota's large-school football championship was decided on Friday night at TCF Bank Stadium, and Mike Grant's Eagles were missing for the first time since 2010.
Eden Prairie had won four straight championships before being upset in the Class 6A quarterfinals by Totino-Grace. A week later, Totino-Grace had Osseo on the ropes, and then the Orioles rallied for two touchdowns and a two-point conversion for a 22-21 victory.
This put Osseo in the state championship game against East Ridge. Again, the Orioles seemed to be on the ropes, and again they escaped … this time with a 14-13 victory after Prince Kruah ran 4 yards for a touchdown with 24 seconds remaining.
Let me suggest this about Prince Kruah: He could be the most relentless running back you've seen in a high school football game in the state of Minnesota.
He is listed at 5-foot-7 and 178 pounds. You're not supposed to be able to take the beating that East Ridge administered on Kruah at 5-foot-7 and 178 pounds. This workload was more for … I don't know, a Mike Alstott type.
Kruah had 43 carries for 189 yards. Eight of those came on the winning 16-play, 71-yard drive that started with 3 minutes, 22 seconds remaining. It came after East Ridge's Grant Ryerse missed a 29-yard field goal, which seemed about as likely as Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty kick.
Ryerse had made field goals from 36 and 41 yards, and those were the six points that had East Ridge in the lead. His miss on try No. 3 gave Osseo a chance, and that's all the Orioles have required in this improbable run to a first-ever state championship.