Eden Prairie gets a grip, cruises past Shakopee in Class 6A football quarterfinal

Eden Prairie bobbled the ball a little bit early, but when the Eagles settled down, they looked like vintage Eden Prairie in a 28-12 victory over Shakopee in the Class 6A quarterfinals Thursday at Park Center High School.

Fumbles — one deep in their own end, another while on Shakopee's doorstep — in the first quarter helped stake the Sabers to an early 6-0 lead.

"The wind was a factor," said Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant. "Huge."

Dominic Jackson scored when he picked up his own fumble and ran 9 yards through a startled Eden Prairie defense.

The Eagles tied the score 6-6 when quarterback Nick Fazi rolled out and found Adam Mertens cutting across the field for a 9-yard score with 1:04 remaining before halftime.

Eden Prairie took the lead for good a minute later when Luca Ratkovich hit a 37-yard field goal with one second left on the clock.

"That was his first field goal," said Grant, who said he wasn't worried about the attempt backfiring. "Not with one second left. I see him make them in practice all the time."

Center Will Sather said that was the style he and his linemates love to play.

"That was most like Eden Prairie football," he said. "Just bouncing back from mistakes and capitalizing when we can. Grinding the football and scoring points."

Hawken Hedlund scored on an 11-yard dash to make the score 15-6, and Devin Jordan bumped the score to 21-6 on a three-yard blast four plays after a Shakopee fumble.

Shakopee cut into the deficit late in the fourth quarter when Garrison Monroe scored from 12 yards out, but the Sabers (7-4) couldn't get closer.

Jordan's 8-yard run with 51 seconds left provided the final score.

Grant wouldn't use the word revenge, saying, "We've got too much respect for that team to talk about revenge."

But Sather admitted the opportunity for a little retribution was on the players' minds.

"That was kind of the theme all week," he said. "We were excited we got another shot at them."