Once again, the Prior Lake football team was on the wrong end of a defensive struggle against Minnetonka.

The No. 7-ranked Lakers dropped to 2-2 overall with a 9-7 road loss to the No. 5 Skippers Sept. 21. The last time these two teams met was in the Class 6A state quarterfinals last November where Minnetonka pulled out a 10-6 win.

The Lakers were hoping to bounce back from a 35-12 Week 3 loss at No. 2 Eden Prairie, but had trouble blocking the Skippers' pass rush as well as picking up their blitzes.

Yet Prior Lake still had a chance to win late in the fourth quarter — twice.

Down 9-7, the Lakers had the ball on Minnetonka's 26-yard line facing 3rd-and-3 with 2:35 left to play. And then disaster struck. A high snap over senior quarterback Colin O'Connor's head cost the Lakers 19 yards and taking them out of field goal range.

It was 4th-and-22 from the 45-yard line when O'Connor was sacked for a 13-yard loss. 

With 2:16 to play, the Lakers had two timeouts left and used them both, forcing a three-and-out from the Skippers. With 1:04 remaining and no timeouts, Prior Lake was on its own 20-yard line trying to get at least 45 yards to set up long, game-winning field goal attempt.

But two incompletions, a sack for minus six yards and 14-yard pass to senior Spencer Marlier on the sidelines which was two yards shy of a first down, ended the Lakers' hopes.

O'Connor and Marlier hooked up on a 71-yard touchdown pass that cut the Skippers' lead to 9-7 with still 11:17 left to play in the fourth quarter. The Lakers looked like they had all the momentum after that big play, but Minnetonka's defense stepped up down the stretch.

Minnetonka connected on a 44-yard field goal in the first quarter, which was set up by strip sack, giving the Skippers the ball at the Lakers' 41-yard line.

Prior Lake will play host to Burnsville Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. The Blaze (2-2) go into the game winning two straight, including a 17-7 upset at No. 6 Maple Grove in Week 4.

Prior Lake also had a costly fumble in the second quarter near at the Skippers' 31-yard line. It was a 3-0 Minnetonka lead at the break.

The Skippers scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to go up 9-0.