What was expected to be a must-see matchup between two of the metro's most accomplished football programs turned out to be little more than a reinforcement of what most already knew: Eden Prairie is very, very good.
On the strength of beefy senior running backs Anthony Anderson and Dan Fisher, Eden Prairie put Totino-Grace through its customary meat grinder, churning out an impressive 42-7 victory.
Anderson, who is much more nimble than his 6-2, 235-pound frame would suggest, ran for a career-high 195 yards on 15 carries. He broke the game open in the second half with touchdown runs of 42 and 35 yards on back-to-back possessions.
Fisher, a 6-foot, 205-pound fullback, rumbled his way to 100 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns — an 11-yard screen pass reception for to give Eden Prairie a 7-0 first-quarter lead and a 4-yard burst in the second quarter to regain the lead 14-7.
"We're not very big, we're not very fast — well, except for our two running backs," Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant said. "We told our guys that we were going up against a championship program and this would be a championship-caliber game. You're never sure how your team is going to respond, but they stepped up."
Media requests to cover the game nearly overwhelmed the Totino-Grace athletic staff. The game, a matchup of 2012 Class 6A champion Eden Prairie and Class 5A champion Totino-Grace (Grace has since moved up to Class 6A), took on added significance because it came on a Thursday night in observance of Yom Kippur.
For one quarter, it was as close as many hoped. Fans settled in for what looked to be a slugfest when Totino-Grace's Ben Mazzenga returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards after Eden Prairie's initial score to tie the score 7-7.
"I thought 'OK, here we go,' " Grant said. "We're going to have a war. But our kids responded well."
