Metro Top 10 football: Undefeateds fall in Class 6A

Nights like Friday seem to happen at least once a season.

A shakeout night, when some teams stumble, others prove their worth and nearly every result holds some sort of significance.

Three top teams in Class 6A lost for the first time: Eden Prairie, Mounds View and Cretin-­Derham Hall. Another large-school program, Lakeville South, ignored the distraction of losing its head coach and the resulting media buzz and put a hurt on a very good Prior Lake squad.

St. Thomas Academy, which had allowed only six points in four games before Friday, gave up 21 to Hastings in the first quarter before settling down to a 35-21 victory. Fridley won a battle of undefeated teams by beating district foe St. Anthony 20-7.

Meanwhile, undefeated metro teams in Class 5A — Armstrong, Elk River and Tartan — remained unblemished. Class 4A is setting up to be a postseason dogfight with eight teams with 5-0 records, five of them in the metro: Hutchinson (fringe metro, but still considered metro), Simley, Fridley, Benilde-St. Margaret's and Mound Westonka.

1. Lakeville North (5-0): The Panthers' winning streak is up to 18 with intradistrict rival Lakeville South up next.

2. Wayzata (5-0): Beating Eden Prairie on the road was not a fluke. The Trojans showed they were better than the Eagles at their own game: physical, tough, hard-nosed football.

4. Eden Prairie (4-1): The defense is still sound, but the Eagles offense, which has scored only 21 points in two weeks and zero in the first halves, needs work.

5. Mounds View (4-1): The Mustangs' penchant for playing tight games caught up with them in a 22-21 OT loss to Stillwater.

6. Cretin-Derham Hall (4-1): A heartbreaking loss to Woodbury overshadowed a 367-yard, three-touchdown-pass effort from QB Preston Theleman.

7. Champlin Park (4-1): The Rebels are a one-point loss to Centennial away from an undefeated record.

8. St. Thomas Academy (Class 5A, 5-0): Hastings splashed a little cold water in the Cadets' faces, who woke up and asserted themselves in a 35-21 victory.

10. SMB Wolfpack (Class 4A, 5-0): Jalen Suggs accounted for 407 total yards (302 passing, 105 rushing) and six TDs in a 49-8 victory over Bloomington Kennedy.