Irish Football Falls To Eagan In Regular Season Finale

Teams want to enter the postseason playing some of their best football of the season.

Rosemount has a ways to go.

The Irish struggled on both sides of the ball and lost 28-7 to Eagan Wednesday.

Still, Rosemount (5-3, 5-3 South Suburban Conference) should get the top seed in Section 3 of Class 5A, and have a first-round bye when play begins next Tuesday. If so, the Irish would be home on Oct. 29 in the section semifinals. Seedings are to be announced Thursday, and playoff brackets will be updated on the Minnesota State High School League website.

The Irish and Prior Lake, a 21-3 loser to Lakeville North Wednesday, have identical records, but Rosemount beat Prior Lake 13-6 in week three.

“We certainly have to play better,” said Irish coach Jeff Erdmann.

The Wildcats started fast against the Irish, coming out throwing the ball six times on an eight-play drive that culminated in a 14-yard pass from Drew Bauer to Mack Nelson. Bauer threw for 185 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 149 yards.

After a three-and-out by Rosemount, Bauer and Nelson again hooked up, this time from 13 yards out for a 14-0 lead with 3:01 to play in the opening quarter. Bauer finished 18-for-29 with no interceptions.

In the words of Eagan coach Rick Sutton, the Wildcats defense was “lights out” in the first half, forcing five straight three-and-outs. Rosemount did not get a first down until late in the first half, but Grant Matthews intercepted Lemoine on the next play.

“We felt good at halftime about what we were doing schematically, but we just didn’t execute very well,” Erdmann said. Rosemount had just 198 yards of offense for the game; 45 in the first half.

The Irish were sharp on a five-play drive that ended with a 26-yard run by Lemoine early in the third quarter to cut the deficit in half, but would get no closer.

Cole Peterson caught a 6-yard score from Bauer late in the quarter to cap a 10-play, 72 yard drive for a 21-7 Eagan lead.

“They’re a good team,” Erdmann said. “Their quarterback is fantastic. They got a lot of good players.”

A second interception by Matthews ended a short Rosemount drive, giving Eagan the ball on its own 10 early in the fourth quarter. After throwing the  ball with success much of the night, the Wildcats went back to the run,  eating nearly 7 minutes off the clock during a 14-play drive. Busch ran five yards up the middle for the final score.

“We felt there were some things we could take advantage of and we were able to. When they made some adjustments we were able to run the ball,” Sutton said.