Blake Storholm doesn’t talk much. The Rosemount senior running back didn’t have to Friday night, letting his play speak for him. 

Storholm rushed 30 times for a 131 yards and three touchdowns, all career-highs, lifting the Irish to a 35-27 victory over previously undefeated Lakeville North.

The victory was the 15th in a row at home for the Irish (7-1), ranked No. 7 in Class 6A. It earned them a bit of revenge from 2014, when Lakeville North ended their season in the state quarterfinals.

“We wanted it bad,” Storholm said. “We all wanted to beat them.”

Those 10 words constituted Storholm’s longest sentences of the night. Like his running style, it wasn’t flashy but it spoke volumes. He had only two runs longer than 10 yards. But he consistently picked up positive yardage and never gave Lakeville North’s ball-hawking defense a chance to knock it out of his grasp.

“He wasn’t the focus,” Rosemount coach Jeff Erdmann said. “Whoever gets the ball is a function of our offense. But he played very well, and you know the best thing about Storholm? Ball security. We were a plus-3 in the turnover department.”

Lakeville North (7-1) was the mistake-prone team Friday. The first half was unlike anything the Panthers had experienced all season. They made a season’s worth of mistakes before halftime and Rosemount took advantage of all of them en route to a 28-14 lead. It was the first time Lakeville North trailed at the break all season.

Panthers quarterback Drew Stewart connected with receiver David Lindstrand on a gorgeous 38-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. Stewart also threw an interception, fumbled while being sacked and was called for intentional grounding in the final stages of the second quarter. In each instance, Rosemount scored soon after.

Storholm scored two of those Rosemount touchdowns, on runs of 3 and 12 yards. He added another in the second half, bulling his way in from 6 yards out. That score put the Irish back up by two touchdowns, 35-20, after Lakeville North had cut the deficit to eight on a one-yard run by Reid Saarela. North added a late touchdown with nine seconds left.

“We just got beat,” Lakeville North coach Brian Vossen said. “Tonight, they were better.”

Blake Storholm rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns as Rosemount took advantage of mistake-prone Lakeville North to emerge with a 35-27 victory.

Rosemount (7-1) scored 28 points in the second quarter, largely due to two Lakeville North turnovers and a decided field-position advantage. The Irish, ranked No. 7 in Class 6A, started three of their four scoring drives deep in Lakeville North territory.

Rosemount earned a measure of revenge with victory and dropped Lakeville North, which defeated the Irish in the 2014 Class 6A state quarterfinals, from the ranks of the unbeaten (7-1).

Check back later for more on the game. 

Key of the game: Rosemount played mistake-free, fundamentally-sound football. The Irish did not have a turnover and relied on a grinding running attack. The defense added five sacks and held Lakeville North running back Wade Sullivan to only 63 yards on 16 carries, breaking his streak of six consecutive games with at least 100 yards.

Quote: “We’ve got to clean up our mistakes. Good thing this is regular season. From now on, all the games count.” 
— Lakeville North coach Brian Vossen.

One thing to know: Rosemount’s victory creates a three-team logjam atop Section 3 in Class 6A in the bid for the No. 1 seed. Burnsville, Lakeville North and Rosemount are each 7-1 and all took turns beating each other. Playoff seeding will be determined by coaches’ voting Saturday.

JIM PAULSEN