ROSEMOUNT, MN - The South Suburban Conference season is in Week 3 and we are starting to see some separation in the standings after tonight's 28-14 victory for the Rosemount Irish (3-0 overall, 3-0 SSC) over the Prior Lake Lakers (2-1 overall, 2-1 SSC). Rosemount and Lakeville North are the only two undefeated teams left in the conference through three games and the Irish needed a couple quarters to get rolling tonight.

The 1st Half saw some stout defensive efforts from both teams and only one touchdown a piece after two stanzas of play. In the 1st Quarter, Rosemount scored their only points of the half, when Senior Quarterback Kevin Larson, our MSBN Player of the Game nominee for the Irish, ran in a 10-yard Touchdown run on Rosemount's second drive of the game. The extra-point by Junior Running Back/Kicker Logan Lindberg was good to make it 7-0 Irish.

For Prior Lake, Senior Quarterback Josh Bolks had a rough game for the Lakers. He threw 2 Interceptions on his first three drives and added a 3rd Interception in the 4th Quarter to Senior Defensive Back David Morgan. One bright spot for Bolks is when he connected with Junior Wide Receiver Matt Arends on a 16-yard Touchdown pass at the end of the 2nd Quarter. This made the game 7-7 at Halftime and the visitors from Prior Lake looked to be in a good position at the break.

The 3rd Quarter was completely different when the Irish, ranked #6 in the Class AAAAA polls, came out of the locker room inspired and ran the ball well thanks to Larson and Senior Running Back Nicholas Liska. Larson had a 7-yard and a 6-yard Touchdown run, before and after Liska, had a 6-yard Touchdown run for the Irish on their first three drives of the 2nd Half. Thanks to a 2-point conversion from a Larson run, after a Lindberg missed Extra-point, the Irish led 28-7 with 9:55 remaining in the 4th Quarter.

Prior Lake played well on the road against an unknown opponent in the Irish, making their first trip to Irish Stadium and had to feel good about how they stand after the first three weeks of the 2010 season. It improved a little bit more at the end of the game, when Senior Running Back Tyler Maxwell ran for a 4-yard Touchdown with 2:06 remaining in the game to make it 28-14. This put them within two scores of the top-ranked Irish on the night and showed the Rosemount fans that they have a new opponent to keep an eye on over the next few seasons.

With the victory, Rosemount moves to 3-0 overall and in South Suburban Conference play. They travel to Lakeville North to take on those undefeated Panthers on MnSportsNetwork.com. For the Lakers, the fall to 2-1 on the season and will host Burnsville next week.

MSBN Players of the Game
Prior Lake - RB Tyler Maxwell
Rosemount - QB Kevin Larson