Sports
Eagan Football Falls To Lakeville South 35-21
Drew Bauer throws for three touchdowns, but the Wildcats are inconsistent in week one.
Eagan stayed with the fourth-ranked team in the state for one half Friday night before Lakeville South pulled away in the season-opening game to win 35-21.
The young Wildcats defense slowed down the high octane Cougar passing game. The Eagan offense had some success, just not on a consistent basis.
Quarterback Drew Bauer was 10 of 24 for 139 yards and three scores, but the Eagan rushing game could never get going, leading to struggles putting together long drives.
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“We just never really had a sense of urgency offensively,” said Coach Rick Sutton. “We had quite a few guys that had that deer in the headlights look all night long. We put three scores on the board so there were flashes of good stuff, but just way too far and few between. Still, there are some positive things we can look at on offense.”
For example, Bauer threw a pass just over a defender and into the arms of Aaron Roundtree for a 25-yard score to tie the game midway through the first quarter. And one play after Alex Mangan recovered a fumble, Bauer hit Mack Nelson on an inside slant for a 14-7 lead less than 30 seconds after the first score.
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However, the Wildcats did not score again until a five-play, 64-yard drive late in the game was capped by a 3-yard Bauer to Joey Weaver score. Of the eight drives between the scores, just once did Eagan have multiple first downs.
“We started off the game running the ball fairly effectively, and then we had to get away from it,” Sutton said. “First of all we weren’t consistently getting things blocked and then we got behind and had to get away from it some more. We’ve just got to be more consistent doing those things.”
Sutton said Mangan “played a great game” from his linebacker position. He also said the performances of Grant Matthews and Nick Laramy stood out in the secondary. “We had a lot of guys defensively that really stepped up for us.”
Lakeville South quarterback Mitch Leidner, who has verbally committed to the University of Minnesota, oftentimes held onto the ball longer than he hoped because of the good downfield coverage by the Eagan defensive backs.
“I thought we did a very good job,” Sutton said. “We had one bust early for a touchdown, but other than that, I thought we played great in the secondary. … The defense didn’t deserve to give up 35 points tonight, but when you’re on the field that much you’re gonna wear down.”
Things get no easier for the Wildcats as they open the home portion of their schedule at 7 p.m. Friday against second-ranked Wayzata. The Trojans won 47-20 at Prior Lake Thursday.
“If we clean some things up, I think we can compete,” Sutton said. “I know our players believe they can compete. A big part of how a football team develops is how much you improve, I think, from week one and week two."