Unsure which was the game ball, the senior had already looked past his four-touchdown outing, saying the game ball is “mixed in there somewhere,” after handing them off to a teammate.

Last fall, O’Connor had mononucleosis the first half of the season but returned late to lead Prior Lake to a state quarterfinal appearance, where the Lakers lost to Minnetonka 10-6.

Back at full health with nine months of motivation heading into the season, O’Connor didn’t falter Thursday night when Shakopee’s Brien Lett Jr. tackled Spencer Shaver in the Lakers’ end zone eight seconds in — on the first play from scrimmage — for a safety.

Instead, he responded by taking a carry 17 yards up the middle of the field and bulldozed his way to the end zone on the Lakers’ (1-0, 1-0) first play of the next drive. While O’Connor continued to carve large gains on the ground, offensive miscues kept Prior Lake from running away with the game early.

No matter.

The Lakers defense, anchored by six returners, was stout all night — and even held the Sabers (0-1, 0-1) to -4 yards of offense in the third quarter.

“Our defensive coaches did a tremendous job prepping these guys,” Prior Lake coach Matt Gegenheimer said. “Credit to Shakopee — they have some tremendous athletes over there we had to account for.”

O’Connor added a 33-yard TD run in the second quarter, which was complemented by Shaver’s 1-yard touchdown dive as time expired in the first half, giving Prior Lake a 21-2 lead.

With the field tilted in the Lakers favor, O’Connor settled in the pocket in the second half and showed his poise on a fourth-quarter touchdown connection to Parker Ellis. Ellis, a state champion long-jumper, ran a fade to the back corner of the end zone and came down with a well-placed throw from O’Connor.

“You know he’s got speed, so I threw it up and gave him a chance to catch it,” O’Connor said.

The Lakers, bolstered with confidence, maintained drives late in the game to wind down the clock, but allowed a 72-yard touchdown run Shakopee’s Montez Hinton late in the game.

Gegenheimer assured his team that their progression through Week 1 was worthy of merit but not enough to get comfortable.

“The biggest thing is they have to understand it’s a week-to-week thing,” he said. “(Class) 6A football is a tough thing — a lot of games will be tight and hopefully we show enough resiliency tonight, overcome and finish strong.”