Armstrong of the Northwest Suburban Conference is 3-5 on the season with wins over White Bear Lake (18-3), Irondale (27-20) and Park Center (28-20). The Falcons played Centennial (6-2) tough Oct. 15 to close out the regular season, losing 16-7 on the road.

Centennial is the No. 3 seed in Section 5.

So the Lakers can't afford to take Armstrong lightly, but that's never been the approach for coach Matt Gegenheimer. He's preached over the years to respect all teams, along with focusing on his team's play rather than the opposition.

If the Lakers play turnover-free football, continue to run the ball and limit the big plays on defense, Prior Lake should be able to advance to the crossover games, which are Oct. 31.

The Lakers are trying to get back to the state for the third time in four seasons after falling a game short last year.

Meanwhile, top-ranked Eden Prairie (8-0) earned the No. 1 seed in Section 6 and gets eighth-seeded Shakopee (2-6) to open the playoffs, while third-seeded Hopkins (4-4) gets sixth-seeded Edina (2-6) and fourth-seeded Minnetonka (4-4) will face fifth-seeded Wayzata (2-6).

The four Section 6 winners will meet the four winners from Section 3 in the crossover games for the right to go to state. The higher seed is at home.

If the Lakers get by Armstrong and Eastview can beat Burnsville, Prior Lake will likely get the Lightning again on its home turf in the crossover game. Prior Lake earned its first-ever state berth in 2011, beating Eastview 27-7 at home to win the section crown.

For complete Class 6A playoff brackets, go towww.mshsl.org.

Meanwhile, the Lakers used a big third quarter to pull away from the Lightning to end the regular season. The game was tied 20-20 at the break. But Prior Lake struck fast to open the second half.

Senior Cullen Sowder took a little swing pass from senior quarterback Lucas Olson and bolted down the sidelines on a 49-yard touchdown.

Prior Lake got the ball right back and marched down the field on a nine-play, 65-yard drive capped off by senior Alex Hart's 8-yard touchdown run for a 34-20 lead.

Prior Lake's defense did the rest. Senior Tyson West intercepted a pass in the red zone to halt an Eastview scoring drive. But the Lightning defense got the ball back and scored on a 53-yard touchdown pass to cut the margin to 34-27 with just over seven minutes left.

Prior Lake sealed the win with five minutes to play, blocking a punt inside the Lightning 20-yard line. Senior Tyler Hanson connected on a 19-yard field goal for a 10-point lead with four minutes to go.

Senior Jacob Rosonke had a big first half, scoring on runs of two and 23 yards for the Lakers' first two scores.

Hart scored from a yard out to put Prior Lake up 20-13 with less than a minute before halftime. But a 15-yard roughing penalty on the Lakers gave Eastview good field position.

That allowed the Lightning to score with 21 seconds left before the break to tie the game.

Hart led the Lakers with 66 yards on the ground, while Rosonke finished with 65. Olson completed 11 of 17 passes for 138 yards with Sowder catching four for 64 yards.

Hart leads the team in rushing heading into the playoffs with 611, while junior Andrew Owodunni has 524 yards. Hart also has a team-best nine rushing touchdowns and 10 scores overall, while Owodunni has seven touchdowns.

Olson has been an efficient passer, completing 60 percent of his passes in the regular season (54 of 90) for 547 yards and four touchdowns.

Defensively, senior Josh Dysthe leads the team in tackles with 63. He and junior Jamahl Johnson have a team-high five sacks. Senior Payton Anderson has a team-best four interceptions.