Prior Lake rolled over Apple Valley last week on nice, cool fall evening.

The weather wouldn’t make it so easy this week for the Lakers, ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press' Class 6A poll.

Cold temperatures and gusty winds slowed Prior Lake’s tempo, but the Lakers found a way to grind out a victory.

Senior running back Alex Hart ran for two touchdowns, helping Prior Lake defeat Eagan 15-14 in a tight South Suburban Conference battle Friday at Eagan High School.

Hart capped two long Lakers’ drives with a pair of 1-yard runs and finished the game with 157 rushing yards.

His most important rush, however, happened with 2:16 remaining in the game. Hart plunged into the end zone on a two-point conversion, giving Prior Lake (5-1) a one-point advantage the Lakers would not relinquish.

"It was pretty cool," Hart said. "We were all excited when we decided to go for two. Our fans were jumping all around. It was awesome."

Lakers' head coach Matt Gegenheimer said forgoing the extra point kick was not an easy decision.

Prior Lake sent its kicking team on the field before Gegenheimer called timeout to think over his decision.

"We had some things to think about because we lost our kicker (Tyler Hanson) to an injury earlier in the game, so going for the extra point and getting it is not a given," he said. "We called timeout. I just looked in the eyes of our boys and I just knew we had to go for it and the win."

Gegenheimer also knew he had to go with Hart in the backfield. Hart, who is the Lakers’ starting linebacker,

has seen limited action on offense this season but his presence in the backfield became more apparent as the night grew colder and the winds kept howling, making it necessary to employ a bruising rushing attack.

"We probably don't want to play him as much going both ways, but he was running so well and we needed a game like that from him," Gegenheimer said.

Prior Lake had its hands full on defense with Eagan senior quarterback Sam Zenner and senior running back Troy Brown.

Brown broke loose for two long touchdowns, scoring on a 30-yard run in the first quarter and on a 78-yard rush in the second. Brown finished with a game-high 185 rushing yards.

"We knew going in that (Brown) needed to be stopped, and with him and his quarterback, it's even tougher," Gegenheimer said. "We needed to tackle better, but good players are going to make good plays like he did.”

The windy weather limited both teams’ passing games all night. Eagan (2-4) did not complete a pass while Prior Lake had 18 yards through the air.

The conditions, however, didn’t hamper Hart and the Lakers.

"I'm just glad we have a really physical football team," he said. "You need it on a night like this and especially when you are trying to score at the end of a long drive. I think it is something that is going to really help us out.”

Senior running back Alex Hart scored two rushing touchdowns and ran in a two-point conversion to lead Prior Lake to a 15-14 victory over Eagan in a South Suburban Conference matchup Friday at Eagan High School.

Hart finished the night with 157 rushing yards for the Lakers (5-1), ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press’ Class 6A poll.

Senior running back Troy Brown scored two touchdowns and finished with 185 rushing yards for the Wildcats (2-4).

Prior Lake hosts Farmington next Friday while Eagan travels to Shakopee.

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