Eden Prairie can be explosive. And tricky. And shrewd.

The No. 1 team in Class 6A has the talent and the moxie to be all of those things.

But what the Eagles do best, and have done for more than two decades, is pound teams into submission.

That is exactly what they did Wednesday, putting together relentless drive after relentless drive en route to a 35-10 victory over No. 2-ranked Edina.

The Eagles set the physical tone from the outset, taking the opening kickoff and driving 79 yards in 14 plays, with senior running back Solo Falaniko scoring from 2 yards out for a 7-0 lead.

“We knew this was going to be a game where we needed to take the ball and pound it down their throats,” said Joe Schreiber, Eden Prairie’s superb center. “Those physical, tough games where you just beat people to sleep? Those are the best.”

The Eagles showed their explosive side on their second touchdown. Pinned at their 3-yard-line, quarterback Cole Kramer hit Daejon Wolfe in stride down the left sideline. Wolfe raced untouched into the end zone for a 97-yard score, bumping the lead to 14-0.

“That play is tougher than it looks,” Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant said. “There’s some deception you have to do on the corner. And Cole put it right on the money.”

Edina (6-2) showed life with 10 second-quarter points, cutting the deficit to 14-10 at halftime, but Eden Prairie (8-0) came out in the second half and squeezed the life out of the Hornets. Touchdowns by Antonio Montero, Will Sather and Falaniko again, capping drives of 8, 12 and 10 plays, put the game away.

“I think we wore them down,” Grant said.

“That’s what they do,” Edina coach Derrin Lamker said. “If they’re not the No. 1 team and the No. 1 seed [in the upcoming playoffs], then we’re doing something wrong.”

This was vintage Eden Prairie. 

The Class 6A, No. 1 Eagles did what they’ve done best for years, leaning on long, time-consuming drives to defeat Edina 35-10.

The victory Wednesday was the third time this season top-ranked Eden Prairie (8-0) dispatched a No. 2-ranked foe. They defeated then-No. 2 Lakeville North in week two and Minnetonka last Friday.

Eden Prairie, leading 14-10 at halftime, put together touchdown drives of 8, 12 and 10 plays after halftime, turning a close game into a comfortable victory.

Antonio Montero scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter, Cole Kramer hit Will Sather with a 15-yard scoring pass on fourth-and-four and Solo Falaniko added a 10-yard touchdown run in the final minutes for the final score.

The game began exactly the way it finished, with Eden Prairie relentlessly driving for its first score. Falaniko capped a 79-yard, 14-play drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock for a 7-0 lead.

As if to show their versatility, the Eagles showed explosiveness for their next score. Pinned at their own 3-yard-line after an Edina punt, quarterback Cole Kramer found Daejon Wolfe, who had sprinted past the Edina defense, open down the left sideline. Kramer hit him in stride and Wolfe ran untouched into the end zone for a 97-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Edina (6-2) shook off the blow and answered on its next possession. The Hornets controlled the ball for 12 plays – buoyed by a pass interference penalty on Eden Prairie on third down — and cut the deficit in half on a 4-yard pass from Ryan Meyer to Anders Nelson to make it a 14-7 deficit.

Eden Prairie moved within field goal range on its next possession, but Edina’s Luke Glennon sliced in and blocked Antonio Montero’s attempt. Edina moved downfield and converted a field goal of its own, a 28-yarder by Luke Arom, as time ran out in the first half with Eden Prairie leading 14-10.