Prior Lake stuns Spuds, ending Moorhead's dream season

Chris Flynn / The Forum By Ryan Spitza November 06, 2026 at 10:53 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? MOORHEAD — As the clock wound down to zeros, the hoots, hollers and celebrations of the Prior Lake football team and its fans could be heard throughout the neighborhoods surrounding Moorhead High School. They probably could have been heard 248 miles away in Prior Lake, too. ADVERTISEMENT The Lakers traveled all the way to Jim Gotta Stadium and took down Goliath, defeating top-seeded and top-ranked Moorhead 19-14 to end the Spuds’ perfect season in the second round of the Minnesota Class 6A playoffs on Friday. “I am absolutely in shock, it’s unbelievable,” said Prior Lake junior running back Luke Watkins. Watkins helped lead the Lakers’ triumph, rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. “Our team has been grinding every day and our culture has been through the roof,” Watkins said. “Everyone believed, no doubt at all in the room. If anyone had doubt, then they’re out of here. “I’m just in shock right now and it feels great. It was a great team win and everyone contributed.” Chris Flynn / The Forum The mood was far different on the home sideline. It was a bitter ending for a Spuds team that spent the entire season atop the state rankings, averaged 46.8 points per game and entered the year with state championship expectations perhaps higher than any program in the state with five senior Division I prospects leading the way. “(Prior Lake) came to play,” Moorhead head coach Kevin Feeney said. “They put together a good plan on both sides of the football, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to execute some things. We just didn’t execute in some key situations.” ADVERTISEMENT Two of those key situations came in the red zone, but the Spuds came away empty-handed on both occasions. After a lengthy opening possession that began at its own 5-yard line following a Lakers punt, Moorhead marched all the way to the PL 8-yard line. But quarterback Jett Feeney's third-down pass to the corner of the end zone fell incomplete, forcing the Spuds to settle for a field-goal attempt. A delay-of-game penalty pushed the attempt back, and Jovaney Kanneh's 30-yard kick doinked off the upright and fell no good. Watkins opened the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown run with 3:11 remaining before halftime to give Prior Lake a 7-0 lead. Chris Flynn / The Forum Moorhead responded with another trip to the red zone, but back-to-back incompletions on third and fourth down from the 12-yard line kept the Spuds out of the end zone again. “We should have went to some stuff earlier,” Kevin Feeney said. “We had two red zone trips in the first half that came away with no points, and a lot of that falls on me. I need to be better and I let some people down (today).” The Lakers held the 7-0 margin at the half before Moorhead struck on its first possession out of the break. ADVERTISEMENT Finally connecting on the big play they had been searching for, Jett Feeney found sophomore receiver Caleb Kazeck downfield for a 44-yard touchdown. The ensuing extra point attempt, however, went awry when the snap was mishandled, forcing the Spuds into a makeshift 2-point try that fell incomplete. Prior Lake led 7-6 with 9:55 to go in the third. That remained the score after three quarters. Prior Lake quarterback Bauer Tabatt proceeded to throw two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth — the first going to Josh Barlass for 18 yards to make it 13-6 with 11:11 remaining. Tabatt then found Leo Gidley for 24 yards with 2:45 on the clock, giving the Lakers a 19-6 advantage late to put a stranglehold on the contest. With 2:01 remaining, Jett Feeney ran for a 4-yard touchdown and converted the ensuing 2-point try to pull the Spuds within 19-14. Moorhead, however, failed to recover the ensuing onside kick. The Lakers picked up one final first down before entering victory formation to seal it. Chris Flynn / The Forum “It’s huge for us,” said Prior Lake head coach Matt Gegenheimer, whose team picked up its sixth straight win after starting the year 0-4. “That’s a very talented football team over there and we knew we had our hands full. ... We stumbled a little bit early in the season with some young guys and we just gained confidence and experience. Couldn’t be more proud of my staff and my players.” Feeney finished 11 of 24 passing for 128 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Entering the game, he had thrown for 3,054 yards and a record-breaking 46 touchdowns on the season without giving up a pick. Prior Lake's Zak Loehlein had both interceptions off of Feeney in the fourth quarter. ADVERTISEMENT “I knew I could do it,” Loehlein said. “I was envisioning it in practice all week. I knew I was going to get one, and I got two. I got two.” Chris Flynn / The Forum Prior Lake (6-4), a No. 4 seed, will move on to next week’s Class 6A state quarterfinals against No. 2 Rosemount (7-3) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. The Spuds, who were without star receiver David Mack Friday due to injury, ended their campaign 9-1. Jett Feeney, Mack, Zak Walker and Taye Reich will all move on to play college football at Minnesota next season. The Spuds’ fifth senior D-I commit, Drew Kessel, will play at North Dakota State. “I’m so thankful for this group of seniors and all these kids on this team,” Kevin Feeney said. “Because we held them to a high standard and they rose to the occasion every single time. I’m going to be sad coming to work next week with this group.” Chris Flynn / The Forum PL 0 7 0 12—19 MHD 0 0 6 8—14 PL — Watkins 35 run (McCarter kick) MHD — Kazeck 44 pass from Feeney (conversion failed) PL — Barlass 18 pass from Tabatt (conversion failed) PL — Gidley 24 pass from Tabatt (conversion failed) MHD — Feeney 4 run (Feeney run) Chris Flynn / The Forum Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags FOOTBALL MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE PRIOR LAKE LAKERS MOORHEAD SPUDS PREP SPORTS By Ryan Spitza Ryan Spitza joined The Forum in December 2021 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Marquette, Mich., a city of 20,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. He majored in multimedia journalism and minored in public relations at Northern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in May 2019. While attending college, Spitza gained real-world experience covering high school and college athletics for both The Mining Journal and The North Wind. Spitza can be reached at 701-451-5613 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ryspitza. 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