Eden Prairie 43, Hopkins 34: Eagles get it done

Forty-eight hours before Hopkins and Eden Prairie kicked off in Friday night's Class 5A Section 6 championship game, one of the competing head coaches was bemoaning the fact that his team was going to be outsized, outquicked and outhealthed.

And I quote:

• "They're huge. We will be outweighed by 80 to 100 pounds per guy on their offensive line to our defensive line. They've got one small little tackle at 230. They start 19 seniors, I think. They're a veteran team."

• "They have great speed, great skill players. I'm really impressed with their quarterback."

• "We have a bunch of kids out. Everybody's banged up. I bet we've probably got seven or eight starters who haven't practiced. We'll send them to their place of worship and dip 'em in holy water or whatever it takes."

After Eden Prairie defeated Hopkins 43-34, it was clear that Eagles coach Mike Grant wasn't blowing an inordinate amount of midweek smoke. On average, Hopkins' offensive linemen did outweigh the Eagles d-line 262 pounds to 208. And the Royals are built for such beautiful, windless Halloween evenings, with speedsters like receivers Marcus Williams and Montez Wilkerson and tailback Terrell Sinkfield, plus a quarterback in Sean Borman who can throw it hard and throw it straight.

Injuries? Yes, the Eagles had a number of first-line guys banged up for Friday's game at Eden Prairie.

But make no mistake, the two-time defending 5A champs know how to win. The Eagles brought the state's longest active winning streak (now at 39 games) into the contest after Stephen-Argyle had its 76-game Nine-man run ended earlier in the day. Eden Prairie's last defeat came against Cretin-Derham Hall in the 2005 state semifinals.

Eden Prairie will face Blaine in the state quarterfinals Thursday night at St. Paul Central's Griffin Stadium. Since 1996, the Eagles have been to the state playoffs every year except 2004. They won big-school championships in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2007. Hopkins has made two state appearances, the most recent in 2006.

The Eagles were pushed to the limit by the Royals (8-3), who played like an Olympic 4x100 relay team. The routine went like this: Eden Prairie (11-0) pounds, pounds, pounds and then swings a pass for good yardage before reaching the end zone. Hopkins was more like a Batman comic: Pow! Bang! Touchdown! But in the end, Hopkins couldn't keep Eden Prairie out of the end zone.

"We thought it would be back and forth with both teams moving the ball," Royals coach John DenHartog said. "But we needed to get a few stops."

A 1-yard sneak by Borman (who completed 22 of 29 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns) brought Hopkins within 36-34 late in the third quarter. The Eagles sealed it with a 72-yard, 14-play drive that ended with Mark Larson scoring from the 5.

This wasn't the most well-played game in the history of football, with turnovers leading to two touchdowns for each team. But there were spectacular efforts. Borman found Wilkerson for three scores. Eden Prairie's Sam Gotham threw two touchdown passes to Taylor Grant and Larson ran for three.

"I thought we'd move the ball," Grant said before looking over his shoulder at the scoreboard, "but I hoped they wouldn't score 34. They were even faster than they looked on film."

John Millea • jmillea@startribune.com