Wayzata Dominates Eden Prairie, Claims Conference Title

If you live in the Plymouth area and experienced frequent rumbling throughout the evening hours on Wednesday, don’t worry. It wasn’t an earthquake or thunderstorm. It was the Wayzata defense teaching another high-school football powerhouse a lesson in toughness.

The second-ranked Wayzata Trojans shut out the frist-ranked Eden Prairie Eagles for the first time this season, holding them to under 100 yards of total offense. Eden Prairie’s star running back Andrew Larson had been averaging more than eight yards per carry and over 140 yards on the ground in every game this year, but the Wayzata defense shut the door quickly on any opportunities for the Eagles to run the ball.

“Playing a team as big as they are that has the running back that they have, you have to have 11 guys playing on defense,” Wayzata head coach Brad Anderson said. “And all of our guys played well together.”

The Trojans played low and fast all night, using their athleticism to counter Eden Prairie’s size on the offensive line and displaying a toughness that every good defense brings to the table.

One such display of toughness was from senior captain and outside linebacker Will Dugan, who played the game on just over an hour of sleep and a 102 degree temperature.

“I know my team wasn’t going to quit on me,” Dugan said. “So I wasn’t going to quit on my team.”

Game Recap

The game started as a defensive battle, with both squads stuffing each other in the backfield. But after some adjustments on offense, the Trojans were able to move the ball on the Eagles.

They drove down the field in the second quarter, but were stopped before crossing into the end zone. They settled for a field goal, making the score 3-0 in favor of the Trojans.

Wayzata repeated the process again in the second quarter, with kicker Tyler Scott finishing off another drive with a 25-yard field goal. Wayzata went into halftime leading 6-0.

The third quarter paralleled the first, with both teams being unable to produce much offensively. But during the fourth quarter the Trojans mustered one more long drive into Eagle’s territory, and capped it off once again with a field goal.  

Patch.com Player of the Game: The Wayzata Defense

Coming into the season, no one thought the Trojan defense would be this good. They lost most of their defensive starters to graduation, and also lost defensive coordinator Matt Lombardi, who took the head coaching position at Maple Grove. But after their dominating performance against the biggest offensive line in the state and one of the best running backs in the state, the Trojan defense looks to be picking up where last year’s defense left off.

Next Game

The Trojans get a bye during the first game of section play. Their first game will be at home on Saturday, October 29 at 1 p.m.