Visiting Rosemount Edges Eagan On Late Kick

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Visiting Rosemount rained on the Eagan High School football team's homecoming parade Friday night.

Rosemount’s Brandon Ekeren kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal with just 12 seconds left to lift the Irish past the Wildcats. The Irish won with a final score of 17-16.

The loss dropped the Wildcats to 0-4 in the South Suburban Conference and 0-5 on the season.

It was the second straight heartbreaking loss for the Wildcats, who lost to Eastview 15-12 last week. It was also the third time this season Eagan has lost by a touchdown or less.

Rosemount evened its conference record at 2-2 and improved to 2-3 on the season.

“Two weeks in a row we lose in the final seconds,” said Eagan head coach Rick Sutton. “It sort of rips your heart out. It’s tough to deal with.

“We talked about what happens when adversity hits,” Sutton added. “And you’ve really only got one choice and that’s to battle through it, keep working and that’s what we’re going to do.

Playing before an enthusiastic standing-room only homecoming crowd, Eagan scored first on a 30-yard pass from junior quarterback Ian Entzion to senior running back Pete Economou for a 7-0 first-quarter lead.

Rosemount tied the game at 7-7 on a 20-yard pass from Sean Kalinowski to Gabe Ehlers in the first quarter.

The Wildcats then took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter on a 22-yard field goal by senior Shane Ringkob.

Eagan led 10-7 at the half.

The Wildcats scored again on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Entzion to Economou for a 16-7 lead with 7-42 left in the third quarter, but missed the extra point kick. That missed point would come back to haunt the Wildcats.

Rosemount answered Eagan’s touchdown with a long-scoring drive, capped by a 15-yard run by Ali Al-Khatib. The point after touchdown kick by Ekeren hit the uprights and bounced just in to make it a 16-14 game with 2:12 to play in the third quarter.

“There was too much inconsistency,” said Sutton. “We didn’t take advantage of opportunities when we had them. Its things we’ve dealt with throughout the season. We just can’t quite get over that hump, make that play when it needs to be made. And now we’re a little snake bit. We’ve just got to keep battling. Nothing is going to come easy for us.”

Rosemount outgained Eagan 296 to 226 in total offense, doing most of the damage through the air. Kalinowski was 12 of 26 attempts for 196 yards.

Eagan plays at Bloomington Jefferson next Friday, Oct. 5. Rosemount plays at Lakeville South.