A 30-year drought ended in Edina on Friday night.
The Hornets survived a sloppy game to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1981 with a 30-27 victory over Blaine.
The Class 6A matchup of teams from Sections 5 and 6 featured turnovers and several costly penalties, but enough from both sides to keep each team in the game.
"Painful," Edina coach Reed Boltmann said. "Our guys played probably the worst game of the year here tonight. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot.
"We played like a rollercoaster. We'd play well and give it back to them."
Edina (9-1) benefited early and late, taking advantage of Blaine's miscues thanks to its defense and special teams. The Hornets defense accounted for their first two touchdowns and stopped the Bengals' final attempt at victory in the final minutes.
The Blaine defense, which gave up only 15 points in the previous three games combined, let the Hornets get off just 23 plays compared to Blaine's 40. But a pair of Edina interceptions returned for touchdowns by Jack Follen and Derek Todd negated the numerous stops.
"Defense won this game," said Edina quarterback Mark Handberg, who threw for 231 yards and connected twice with Marley Allison for touchdowns in the second half. "The defense kept giving the offense crap, telling us they were beating us on the scoreboard."
