Football Friday: Prior Lake vs. Lakeville South

Prior Lake (4-2, 4-1 South Suburban Conference) vs. (5-1, 5-1 South Suburban Conference)

PLAYMAKERS

• Jack Kaiser (Prior Lake – running back)

Jack was limited to just 93 yards last week against Eagan, but one was a 46-yard score on a fourth-down play to put the Lakers up 14-0 late in the third quarter. Jack ran for more than 300 yards one week prior against Bloomington Kennedy.

• Karmichael Dunbar (Prior Lake – defensive lineman)

The D-1 recruit did a nice job of clogging the middle to slow down Eagan’s inside running game last week. He’ll need to get after the Lakeville South quarterback this week.

• Matt Heller (Lakeville South – wide receiver)

Matt had six catches for 104 yards in last week’s loss, including a diving grab over the middle, and leads the team with 35 catches for 573 yards in six games. Coach Larry Thompson said Matt is “an amazing player.”

• Mitch Leidner (Lakeville South - quarterback)

Playing in extremely windy conditions last week, Mitch still threw for 138 yards on 10 of 20 passing and a touchdown. On the season, Mitch has thrown 12 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He should be able to put up some good yardage this week.

LAKERS WIN IF ...

They need to run the ball effectively with Kaiser, Jack Johnson and Trevor Maxwell to control the clock and keep the potent Cougars offense off the field. Defensively, the Lakers will need to put pressure on the quarterback and the Prior Lake secondary needs to come up big because South has a potent passing game. Prior Lake will also likely need a couple of turnovers to spoil the Cougars homecoming.

COUGARS WIN IF ...

Their defense needs to play better against a team that likes to run and then run some more. Coach Larry Thompson said the South defenders need to do a better job of making the proper reads and staying in position, something they struggled with in last week’s 30-6 loss to Lakeville North. “We kind of got panicky a little bit,” Thompson said. Lakeville South will also likely need to have one or two big plays, something that didn’t happen last week. For example, the Cougars allowed two big runs into the wind early in the second half where a good defensive series would have forced the Panthers to punt into a strong wind from deep in their own end. The offensive line will need to protect better; Mitch Leidner was sacked four times.

2-MINUTE DRILL

SITE: Lakeville South High School

TIME: 7 p.m. Friday

WEATHER: Clear and breezy, 53 degrees

LAST MEETING: Lakeville South won 53-14 last season.

PRIOR LAKE SCHEDULE

Thur. Sept. 1 vs. Wayzata                      Fri. Sept. 9     @ Bloomington Jefferson  W 43-7
Fri. Sept. 16   vs. Rosemount                L 13-6
Fri. Sept. 23   @ Burnsville                   Fri. Sept. 30   @ Bloomington Kennedy  W 30-13
Fri. Oct. 7       vs. Eagan                      Fri. Oct. 14     @ Lakeville South
Wed. Oct. 19 vs. Lakeville North

LAKEVILLE SOUTH SCHEDULE

Fri. Sept. 2     vs. Eagan                Fri. Sept. 9     @ Eastview             Fri. Sept. 16   vs. Apple Valley       W 45-6
Fri. Sept. 23   @ Bloomington Jefferson W 42-7
Fri. Sept. 30   vs. Rosemount         Fri. Oct. 7       @ Lakeville North    Fri. Oct. 14     vs. Prior Lake
Wed. Oct. 19 @ Burnsville