Field firms up for prep football playoffs, starting Tuesday

Wednesday's final night of the football regular season cleared a few things up and muddied a few others.

The teams atop the metro rankings this week took care of business, but there were some unanticipated results that are worth noting:

• Shakopee held firm to win at Rosemount, ending the Irish's five-game winning streak and helping the Sabers earn their first home playoff game in coach Ray Betton's three-year tenure.

• Totino-Grace fell to Champlin Park on a last-minute two-point conversion, marking the Eagles' first back-to-back losses since Jeff Ferguson took over as coach.

• Cretin-Derham Hall's victory over Roseville not only landed the Raiders a No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoffs but also a first-round bye.

• Cooper, after a season of comfortable victories, allowed Irondale to rally in the fourth quarter and needed two overtimes to put the Knights away.

The football postseason begins this week, with two rounds of playoffs (Tuesday and Saturday) for all classes except Class 6A, which begins Friday. Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Prior Lake joined Cretin-Derham Hall with No. 1 seeds in the 6A bracket.

The girls' tennis tournament begins Tuesday and runs through Friday. Class 2A competition will take place at Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus while Class 1A is held at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

The soccer quarterfinals will take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at one of these four sites: Chisago Lakes, Farmington, Prior Lake or St. Cloud State. The semifinals and finals will be held the following week at U.S. Bank Stadium.

1. Eden Prairie (8-0): The Eagles completed a dominant, if dramaless, regular season by beating Edina. Each victory was by at least 18 points.

2. Minnetonka (7-1): I took some heat for dropping the Skippers to No. 6 last week and deservedly so. This is where they belong.

3. St. Michael-Albertville (7-1): Since falling to Totino-Grace in Game 5, the Knights have bludgeoned three foes, outscoring them 86-0 in the first half, 108-20 overall.

5. Edina (6-2): The Hornets were a little sloppy against Eden Prairie, which coach Derrin Lamker admitted after the game. Did they get it out of their system?

6. Cretin-Derham Hall (6-2): Beating Roseville in the finale proved that the Raiders, who have won four straight, are dangerous and playing some serious defense.

7. Roseville (6-2): What to make of Roseville? Its two losses were by a total of just six points, but the combined record of the teams the Raiders have defeated is 13-35.

8. Chaska (5A, 8-0): QB Connor Souba has been remarkably efficient. He's completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 1,465 yards.

9. Cooper (5A, 8-0): The Hawks survived their first nail-biter of the season, beating Irondale 41-34 in 2OT.