Photo Gallery: Prior Lake vs. Rosemount
Swansson hauled in what proved to be the game-winning 34-yard touchdown with 4 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to flip a five-point deficit into a three-point lead. Swansson helped seal the deal with an interception on a deep ball downfield on the ensuing drive.
Rosemount bled the clock and scored a 22-yard touchdown on a William Priest run with 1:12 to go in the game to put a hotly contested game out of reach. Rosemount coach Jeff Erdmann praised Swansson’s impact on the game.
“The kid covers the field,” Erdmann said. “He’s got all kinds of heart. He’s one of the smallest guys on the field out here, but he’s giant. Our fans have seen that all year.”
The game featured two top-10 teams in the most recent Star Tribune Class 6A rankings. It also featured two of the stingiest defenses. The Irish, ranked No. 2-6A, had allowed a class-low 6.3 points per game this season with the next closest, Centennial, coming in at 12.2 entering the night. Prior Lake, ranked No. 7-6A, wasn’t far off at 14.7 per game.
Friday’s game opened with three possessions and no first downs. Late in the first quarter, Rosemount used a short field to drive 50 yards ending with an 8-yard touchdown rush by junior starting quarterback Landon Danner to give them a 6-0 lead after one quarter.
Prior Lake responded with a touchdown drive of its own early in the second quarter. Grayson Spronk rushed for a 2-yard touchdown on a toss play to the left edge. It was set up by a tipped punt that gave the Lakers great field position at the opposing 37. That same toss play to the left helped Spronk rush for another short touchdown late in the half. He finished with 17 carries for 83 yards but was out of the game after two second-half carries.
The two teams traded possessions with Prior Lake trying to drain the clock and get to halftime up 14-6.
It didn’t work.
Rosemount burned a pair of timeouts and got a stop. The Irish turned the reins over to sophomore quarterback Gavin Caswell, who entered the night 15-for-18 passing for 160 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Most of those stats came in a 13-for-15, 142-yard, two-touchdown performance in last week’s 49-0 win at Farmington.
Friday was far from mop up duty, but Erdmann had faith in the underclassman. Caswell ran the hurry-up offense to perfection. He hit William Priest for a 28-yard pass up the middle and followed with a well-placed ball to Darion Gildersleeve in the left end zone for a late touchdown. The 2-point conversion attempt to tie the game failed, but it was the spark Rosemount needed against a capable Prior Lake squad.
The Lakers own an early-season win over No. 4-6A Shakopee (5-2) and were coming off consecutive losses by a 28-14 score at No. 5-6A Eden Prairie (5-2) and 21-17 vs. No. 6-6A Lakeville South (5-2).
Rosemount’s quarterback switch wasn’t a benching of Danner, but more a schematic switch to utilize Caswell’s skill set.
“We trust both quarterbacks,” Erdmann said. “They both do good stuff and we have a couple different packages in our scheme. They do well with both of them. It just happened that spread worked a little better. [The Lakers] are a very physical team up front. A lot of our line guys, they play defense, too, so schematically it makes more sense to do spread stuff. Gavin played well tonight and played well last week.”
The two-point halftime lead for Prior Lake was nearly as close in yardage, with Rosemount owning a 134-118 advantage. The Irish got the ball to start the second half but quickly stalled. Logan Lehrer drilled a 26-yard field goal to give the Lakers a 17-12 lead with 2:34 in the third.
It was the second time Rosemount had trailed this season. The first was a 7-0 halftime deficit in a 10-7 win at Lakeville South.
“We’re always fighting,” Swansson said. “We all have that mentality. We all expect to win games when we play like that.”
Rosemount drove inside the red zone, but Caswell’s first interception came at a costly time at the hands of Drew Hammerstrom in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Prior Lake threatened to drain the clock with sophomore running back Levi Eiter taking over for Spronk and finding moderate success.
Lakers quarterback Luke Crosby maneuvered a quarterback sneak from his own 44-yard-line on fourth-and-1 with 6:04 to go. The Irish bowed up for the stop, which set up the heroics from Caswell to Swansson.
Rosemount (7-0) held Crosby to 8-for-14 passing for 55 yards and one interception, which Swansson snared at his team’s 17-yard line. Eiter ran 10 times for 46 yards.
The Irish marched downfield on the demoralized Lakers (4-3), ending in a 22-yard rushing touchdown by Priest. He tried to avoid rushing into the end zone to burn clock with under two minutes remaining, but was dragged into the end zone.
It was a moot point as Prior Lake’s last ditch effort down 10 points stalled before midfield.
Caswell finished the game 5-for-9 passing with 114 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Priest ran 10 times for 67 yards.
The back-and-forth affair was similar to last year’s 27-24 win for Prior Lake over Rosemount on its home field. The Lakers trailed two different times in the fourth quarter before coming back.
“We had that in the back of our heads,” Swansson said. “We used that as motivation and we pulled through.”
These types of games are par for the course in the Metro Gold South district that features four top-10 teams. Rosemount clinched the district title and surpassed its win total from a 5-5 season a year ago.
“In our district, people who know football know we have a bear district,” Erdmann said. “The teams we play, you’ve got to come and play and you’ve got to play four quarters. I was thrilled our guys played well in the second half.”
Rosemount is a win away from its third perfect regular season in the last eight years. Unranked Burnsville is all that’s in its way. In 2014, the Irish went 8-0 and advanced to the state quarterfinals then won four regular season games plus two postseason games in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season.