When Blaine and Prior Lake met in last year’s section playoffs, the Bengals scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to win 21-17. The rematch was much different.

Preston Jelen’s 36-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Colin O’Connor late in the first quarter started a run of six unanswered touchdowns for the 10th-ranked Lakers in a 49-14 rout of the ninth-ranked Bengals at Prior Lake.

“We learned a lot from playing them last year,” Prior Lake coach Matt Gegenheimer said. “We don’t see a lot of spread offenses like theirs, and that really helped us.”

Blaine (6-4) led briefly at 7-6 after Sam Browne hauled in a 63-yard touchdown from quarterback Connor Melton midway through the first quarter. The Laker defense then forced 11 consecutive scoreless possessions by a Bengals offense that entered averaging 35.9 points per game.

“This was the most complete game we’ve played all year, and it came at the right time,” Gegenheimer said. “Our defense has been consistent all year. Once we settled into the speed of the game we were able to bottle them up.”

O’Connor threw two more touchdown passes in the second quarter. His 15-yard strike to Spencer Marlier put the Lakers (7-3) in front 36-7 heading into halftime. O’Connor completed all six of his passes in the first half for 146 yards.

Jelen finished with three catches for 96 yards and rushed for a team-high 87 yards on eight carries.

With their sixth consecutive victory, the Lakers (7-3) advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2014. They will face Minnetonka, which defeated them 27-8 in their last loss in the fourth game of the regular season.