Lakeville South Cougars set for big crosstown showdown with Lakeville North
LAKEVILLE, Minn. (BVM) — Coming off their best season ever in 2019, the Lakeville South Cougars had high hopes for this year.
“We felt really good about what we had coming back,” Cougars head coach Ben Burk said.
Burk had taken over as interim coach halfway through last season as Lakeville went 7-1 in the regular season. It made its second straight appearance to the MSHSL Class 6A state semifinals only to lose to the eventual state champion Wayzata.
The year prior as the No. 22 seed heading into the postseason, the Cougars had surprised everyone by making it to the state semifinals after going 3-5 during the regular season. That year they lost to crosstown rival Lakeville North.
With two impressive state runs under their belts, the 27 seniors coming back for the 2020 season hold themselves to a higher level of success.
“They’ve played in the state tournament two years in a row and they kind of have it in their mind that that’s the standard of our program,” Burk said.
However, there have been plenty of obstacles added that the Cougars and all Minnesota high school football teams have had to jump in trying to make the 2020 season happen.
Following nationwide shutdowns due to COVID-19 in the spring, it was uncertain if fall sports would happen, especially high contact sports like football.
“It’s a challenge anytime you have uncertainty. Football coaches and football programs are built, I think, on repetitive consistency where you can expect the same thing,” Burk said. “When that stuff all gets thrown in the blender and you don’t know what’s happening that’s a big challenge for people.”
Luckily for Burk and the Cougars, they pride themselves on preparation and controlling what they can control. It allowed them to try and keep the distractions at bay and just focus on being ready for the upcoming season whether it was in the fall or the spring.
“We found ways to work hard and get better even though there were a lot of different restrictions,” Burk said.
It was announced late in the summer that Minnesota would push the high school football and volleyball seasons to the spring while other fall sports would continue as planned. This only lasted a couple weeks before the MSHSL announced it would allow a fall season to take place but it would end at sectionals with no state tournament.
“I felt like it was a positive thing to do and we all supported it,” Burk said. “The mindset for all of us was, This is a gift.’”
Feeling that it was a gift combined with the preparation they had done in the offseason allowed the Cougars to enter the season firing on all cylinders.
“We want to be a team that’s known defensively,” Burk said. “This year it just so happens we’re putting up points in large numbers.”
The Cougars are playing strong defense, but three games into the season they are scoring 55 points per game. The main contributor to that is the run game. Lakeville South has been able to rush for 1,291 yards on 133 attempts for 22 touchdowns.
Burk credits the surge in offensive effectiveness to the level of understanding the team has for their offensive scheme, the power-T.
“Working with the guys who kind of taught it to us from Elk River,” Burk said. “They’ve always said that year three is kind of special because at that point the kids get it and the coaches know how to adjust in a different way than year one or year two. You’re kind of at a different level at that point.”
That has proven to be true as the offense has already overcome injuries to senior starting running back Will Geary and senior tight end, University of Wisconsin commit, Riley Mahlman.
The Cougars didn’t skip a beat. In his first game starting in place of Geary sophomore Carson Hansen last week against Prior Lake, Hansen ran for four touchdowns and junior tight end Chase Androff stepped up as well.
“We knew Carson was going to be special eventually,” Burk said. “He’s kind of like mini-Riley but he’s not mini.”
With the 49-35 win over Prior Lake, Lakeville South is 3-0 on the season and the top-ranked team in Class 6A football.
Tonight they will face off against their crosstown rivals in Lakeville North. Last year the Cougars beat the Panthers 34-19 and the year before that North ended South’s Cinderella run through the state tournament in the semifinals.
Both teams also just missed out on an all-Lakeville state title game last year, losing in the semifinals.
“I think our community has a reputation at this point for being a really passionate football community,” Burk said. “This game is important to them.”
In a year where normalcy is at a premium and the opportunities to feel that way are rare, this game has added meaning for both sides. It will also be a chance to see if North will be the first team to slow the Cougar’s offense as both teams pride themselves on strong defense.
“I could see it being a low scoring slugfest, I could see it being a shootout, it just really depends on the schemes we play and our ability to limit mistakes,” Burk said.
Either way, a meaningful game like this will come down to the wire and Lakeville South is confident in their team to pull through. Especially the seniors.
“Those senior leaders it’s not just one, it’s not just four captains it’s top to bottom there,” Burk said. “They’ve been through it before and we rely on them completely to steady us when things go wrong and to really outperform the competition when they get the chance.”
This Cougar team from the coaches to the players is special. They have been preparing for this season even when they weren’t sure they would have one. Although the future is still filled with uncertainty, they enter the game tonight ready to add another win to their record and another great memory to an unforgettable season.
