Undefeated Maple Grove football not fazed by second-round 6A matchup against Eden Prairie

Adam Spurrell has a message for Maple Grove High School football fans and parents:

Relax.

He may be a first-year head coach, but Spurrell has spent the better part of two decades coaching the Crimson in some capacity. He knows his team. He knows what he has and what they can do.

Undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Class 6A — and No. 1 in the Star Tribune’s Minnesota Top 20 class-crossing football rankings — Maple Grove has been in a class of its own all season.

So what if the Crimson, which earned the top seed in the 6A brackets, have a challenge in front of them when they host Eden Prairie, the No. 4 seed, on Friday night. They’ve taken care of business at every turn, often salting games away before halftime.

Sure, it’s not your typical No. 1 versus No. 4 seed second-round matchup, but it’s commonly held that to be the best, you have to beat the best. And this is likely the best matchup Maple Grove could face at this point of the season.

No team in the state carries the historical cache of Eden Prairie. Helmed by Mike Grant, the progeny of legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant, the Eagles are the most successful football program in state history, boasting 11 state championships.

Eden Prairie hasn’t been quite as dominant this season as in years past. A little past the halfway point, the Eagles were treading in unfamiliar waters, having lost three of their first five games. They’ve since regained a bit of their mojo by ripping off four consecutive victories, but it’s clear this is not vintage Eden Prairie.

Yet, for some Maple Grove fans, the mere thought of playing Eden Prairie, the 800-pound gorilla of Minnesota high school football, is reason for concern. Could the Eagles spoil their bid for a second state title in three years?

“I’ve talked to the kids about it and they’re embracing it,” said Spurrell of the impending battle of big dogs. “Most of them only have information from last time we played Eden Prairie and we took it to them (a 35-3 Maple Grove victory in the 2021 Class 6A state semifinals). So they’re not too worried. That’s what they know. It’s mostly the parents who are nervous, because they’re aware of Eden Prairie’s reputation.”

From Spurrell’s standpoint, getting a shot at Eden Prairie falls within his master plan for Maple Grove’s future. Next year, the football program is moving from the Metro North sub-district to the Metro West, which is also home to traditional powers like Minnetonka, Wayzata, Shakopee and Eden Prairie. So he’s pleased to get early exposure to an eventual rival.

For non-football sports, Maple Grove is planning to switch its conference affiliation from the North Suburban to the Lake Conference.

“I’m happy to play Eden Prairie,” Spurrell said. “We’re going to see them each year anyway, when we move to the West.”

In a season that has more than lived up to expectations, Spurrell is confident his team will be ready Friday. They expect to have star running back Chuck Langama, who has missed the past month with an ankle injury, back in the fold. The rest of the Crimson are healthy, largely due to their abundance of lopsided victories. Six of their victories have been by at least three touchdowns, and four by more than 40 points.

“We’ve had big expectations for this group from the beginning,” Spurrell said. “Our biggest surprise is how quickly we’ve dominated games. We’ve got JV players who have played 11 quarters because we’ve had such big leads. We’ve called up sophomores to hopefully get them some game experience.”

Spurrell’s mantra to his team hasn’t wavered since the postseason started. They’ll welcome all comers.

“We want to keep playing until we run out of games,” he said.