If the Prior Lake football team wants to start the season with two straight wins, it will need to tackle Evan Hull.

The No. 5-ranked Lakers will take on No. 6 Maple Grove Sept. 7 at home at 7 p.m. The Crimson are led by Hull, who had 387 yards rushing and four touchdowns in Maple Grove's 34-7 win in its season opener Aug. 30 against Osseo.

Prior Lake also had an impressive opening victory as well, winning 41-8 at Shakopee Aug. 30.

Last year, Maple Grove beat the Lakers 9-6 in Week 2. Hull had a 139 yards and a touchdown in that win.

"Hull will be tough; he's arguably the best running back in the metro," Lakers coach Matt Gegenheimer said. "Their offensive line is physical and athletic, so we will have to be physical and tackle well.

"Maple Grove is always well coached and it will be a very competitive, physical football game," Gegenheimer added.

The Lakers and Crimson have met four times the last four years with Maple Grove winning all four games, including 10-7 in the state quarterfinals in 2014.

Meanwhile, in Prior Lake's victory over Shakopee in the opener, senior quarterback Collin O'Connor ran the team's new-look offense to near perfection, running for two touchdowns and throwing for two more.

"I thought as the game went on, we played better and better," Gegenheimer said. "We had some guys playing in their first varsity game with some first-game jitters. I'm proud of how the guys handled some early adversity and turned it on from there."

Shakopee led 2-0 early in the first quarter, but by the end of the third it was down 35-2 and then it trailed 41-2, before scoring late in the fourth quarter.

Senior Spencer Shaver ran for two touchdowns for the Lakers on runs from 1 and 5 yards. Senior Spencer Marlier and junior Parker Ellis each had a short touchdown catch in the second half.

The Lakers have been in the state quarterfinals four of the last seven seasons, including last year when they lost 10-6 to Minnetonka. In his 13th season, Gegenheimer entered this season with a career record of 70-43 overall.

But Gegenheimer wants to take his program to the next level — a state championship level. Could the hiring of Mark Esch to run the offense in the offseason get the Lakers to higher heights?

Esch was the head coach at Mankato West from 2006 to 2016, leading the Scarlets to the Class 5A state title in 2014 and the Class 4A crown in 2008. He's known for his innovative offense.

Against the Sabers, Esch's offense spread the field, using its speed to attack vertically, while still being able to run with power inside with Shaver. O'Connor also used his feet, scoring the Lakers' first two touchdowns on runs of 17 and 33 yards and finishing the game with 100 yards on the ground.

O'Connor also completed 11 of 23 passes for 69 yards.

The Lakers led 21-2 at the break and dominated on both sides of the ball in the third quarter to put the Sabers away. Shaver and senior Keaton Schroeder each had 35 yards rushing for Prior Lake.

Prior Lake has a ton of speed on offense. Ellis, the defending Class 2A state long jump champ is the outside, along with Marlier. Schroeder brings speed to the backfield alongside Shaver, who led the Lakers with 10 touchdowns last year.

Defensively, the Lakers have six starters back from last year with Shaver playing both ways, along with senior linebackers Michael Herbst and Noah Benson, seniors Jarod Henderson and Ethan Kuehn in the trenches and junior Dylan Bair in the secondary.

Shakopee had trouble moving the ball all game, until breaking off a 72-yard scoring run late.

Senior Austin Gordon led the Lakers with eight tackles in the opener, adding an interception, while Benson had seven tackles. Shaver and junior DJ Doyen each had five. Shaver and senior Carter Effertz each had a sack.

"I was happy to see how well the offense performed and showed they have adapted well to the new system," Gegenheimer said. "Collin did a great job managing the game and making plays with his feet and throwing the ball. I feel they will continue to improve as the year goes on.

"Defensively we had some new faces out there and was happy how they played," Gegenheimer added. "Overall, I like our team speed and overall execution, but we still have a long ways to go."

In Week 3 (Sept. 14), Prior Lake is at No. 1 Eden Prairie, the defending state champion, and in Week 4 (Sept. 21) will get No. 2 Minnetonka, last year's state runner-up, on the road. Both games start at 7 p.m.