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Wayzata defense dominates

By David La Vaque, Star Tribune, 10/19/11, 10:15PM CDT

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Three field goals provided the victory margin as the Trojans shut out Eden Prairie.

Wayzata’s defense wasn’t supposed to be this good.

The Trojans graduated several starters, including first-team All-Metro safety David Boegel. In addition, coordinator Matt Lombardi, architect of their three Class 5A championship defenses, left for the head coaching job at Maple Grove.

While the tradition-rich group looked more vulnerable at times this season, you’d have a hard time convincing No. 1 Eden Prairie. The smaller, quicker Trojans defenders bottled up the Eagles’ mammoth offensive line and standout running back Andrew Larson in Wednesday’s 9-0 victory. Three Tyler Scott field goals was all the breathing room Wayzata’s defense needed.

With the victory, No. 2 Wayzata remained undefeated (8-0) and claimed its second consecutive Lake Conference title.

“It’s a new year, a new challenge for us,” defensive end Kit Snyder said. “We still use the same concepts and we still fly around, so it wasn’t a huge deal for us.”

Not huge also describes the Trojans defenders. At 220 pounds, Snyder is the team’s biggest defensive lineman. Meanwhile, Eden Prairie ran behind 275-pound Nick Davidson and 310-pound Daniel Urquart.

“Eden Prairie is a team that shows you what they’re going to do but they feel like they’re just better than you and they’ll execute,” Snyder said. “But we were able to swarm to the ball even though they had a lot of size on us.”

Injuries to Larson also helped Wayzata’s cause. Eagles coach Mike Grant said Larson played with “a partially torn ligament in his knee” suffered against Minnetonka. He carried 22 times for 93 yards on Wednesday and passed the 1,000-yard mark for this season.

“He’ll be fine in two weeks,” said Grant, who expects the Eagles to get a first-round bye in the section playoffs.

With the Eagles laboring to run the ball, quarterback Grant Shaeffer completed two of seven passes for minus-4 yards. He was sacked three times. His best pass, a completion to Larson deep in Wayzata territory, got wiped out by a penalty for an illegal receiver downfield.

“That’s the play that would have put us ahead 7-6 and then it’s a whole different game,” Grant said.

The score might have ballooned the other way if not for Eden Prairie’s defense. Each of the Trojans’ first-half field goal were consolation prizes as promising drives ended near the Eden Prairie goal line.

As big as Wednesday’s game was, both coaches encouraged their players to think bigger. A rematch could come in November at the Prep Bowl.

“Tonight’s game wasn’t going to define either of these teams,” Grant said. “One of these great teams had to lose.”

WAYZATA RUNNING BACKS COME THROUGH

As he broke free of the initial pack and began leaving Eden Prairie defenders in his wake, Wayzata senior running back Erik Roti thought he would be the only person to cross the goal line on Wednesday.

Roti ran for an apparent 52-yard touchdown in the waning moments of Wayzata’s 9-0 victory, but a penalty wiped it out. Even as he finished the run, Roti knew it was likely for naught.

“I kind of saw something fly up about halfway through,” he said. “You have to keep going, though, because what if it wasn’t on me? I had to give 100 percent.”

The missed touchdown did little to diminish Roti’s impact throughout the game. He rushed 15 times for 113 yards. His backfield mate Antonio Ford added 23 carries for 99 yards. Both players exceeded their season averages for yards in a game. Together, they moved Wayzata’s offense and kept the Trojans in control of the battle for field position.

And a battle it was. Roti called the Eagles, “the hardest-hitting team I’ve played so far – and the classiest by far. That’s a great club and I couldn’t be more honored to play against them.”

In the first half, Roti, who placed 5th in the 100-yard dash at the Class 2A state track and field meet last spring, got loose for runs of 26, 15 and 28 yards. He said the good start calmed any frustrations about two promising drives ending with field goals.

In the first quarter, Roti picked up a first down at the Eagles’ 2-yard line. But the defense held firm and Tyler Scott booted the first of his three field goals.

“Earlier this season we weren’t as good running the ball in the first half – we weren’t hitting our holes, we weren’t keeping our pads low,” Roti said. “Then in the second half it would pick up, so we were pretty confident.”

Ford played a key role on Wayzata’s final scoring drive, rushing for gains of 18 and 13 yards to move the Trojans into field goal range.

The victory extended Wayzata’s two-season winning streak to 19 consecutive games and allowed the defending state champs to also repeat as Lake Conference champs.

With the playoffs beginning next week, however, Roti and the Trojans are looking through a larger lens.

“This game was about finding out where our mental toughness and pride were at,” Roti said. “We don’t ever want to lose a game; we want to give 100 percent.”

Eden Prairie at Wayzata: Oct. 19, 2011

Watch the entire game, courtesy of Webcast America.

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