The final minute of the first half pretty much summarized the opening 24 minutes of Wednesday’s tilt between Class 6A powers Lakeville South and Rosemount.
For the first time in five drives, Lakeville South earned multiple first downs. It did not get a third, because Cullen George recorded his second interception for Rosemount in as many weeks.
The Irish took over on the Lakeville South 40 with 49.2 seconds left.
Less than 10 seconds later, Rosemount increased its lead to 17-0 when Jakhai Hollie got well behind the Cougars secondary on a flea flicker play for a 40-yard touchdown reception from Finn Macken.
Lakeville South made it close in the second half with a couple Griffen Dean scores, but Rosemount held on for a 20-15 victory.
“They’re a very good football team and it’s four quarters,” said Irish coach Jeff Erdmann.
Ranked sixth in the latest state poll, Erdmann’s squad has won seven in a row in a row since falling to No. 2 Centennial in the season opener.
Rosemount (7-1) claimed the Metro South subdistrict title and a No. 1 playoff seed. Second in both is Lakeville South (6-2), which entered the game ranked No. 3 in the state.
Both programs are in strong positions to make deep postseason runs. Class 6A brackets will be announced Thursday morning. Postseason action for the state’s largest schools begins Oct. 24.
“We got more,” George added. “We’ve been working hard and we’re just going up. We’re elevating every week, and that’s our goal.”
This has been quite a turnaround for Rosemount, a perennial power that was an uncharacteristic 1-8 last season.
“Our guys have worked hard, they’ve bought in,” Erdmann said.
“We all pushed each other and picked each other up. I just love this team so much,” said Savion Severson, who had a 53-yard touchdown run on Rosemount’s third offensive snap. The senior played at Northfield and Roseville the past two seasons, but was welcomed with open arms in Rosemount from day one.
Lakeville South entered the affair averaging 224.4 rushing yards per game. It finished with 181 after just 63 yards at halftime.
“Offensively, we just struggled to match their physicality and speed and got a little shell-shocked,” Cougars coach Ben Burk said. “It took the defense to force a stop and make a big play and lit their fire and they were able to go. Being able to overcome that faster is the goal.”
A bad snap on a Rosemount punt got Lakeville South two points early in the third and gave some momentum to the visitors. Nearly seven minutes later, Dean scored from four yards out to cap a 13-play, 67-yard drive that included a 28-yard dash by Jeremiah Lebbi and cut the Cougars’ deficit to 17-9.
“We just didn’t come out with the intensity we had in the first half, and it showed,” George said.
Bennett Simmering’s second field goal of the game, this time from 31 yards out, gave the Irish a 20-9 lead midway through the fourth quarter, one play after an apparent Lakeville South fumble recovery was negated because officials said the runner’s forward progress had been stopped.
A 31-yard dash by Dean got the Cougars within six points. But after forcing a late Rosemount punt, Lakeville South ran four unsuccessful plays in the final minute.
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