The Prior Lake football program appears to have the patent on painful, gut-wrenching season-ending defeats.

The Lakers endured another one Nov. 4 against Blaine, falling 21-17 on the road to the top-seeded Bengals in the second-round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Blaine scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 3:14 remaining to go up by four points. Fourth-seeded Prior Lake had a chance at its own game-winning drive, starting on its own 25-yard line.

The Lakers got one first down and then faced what looked to be a 4th-and-3 near midfield. But instead, it turned into a 4th-and-18 because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that was called on the Prior Lake bench.

Watching the live stream, Prior Lake didn’t connect on a 3rd-and-3 pass with just over a minute to play. The ball bounced to a coach on the sidelines. The ref looked for the ball and it was thrown back to him overhand in a semi-aggressive manner. 

Was the ball thrown back to the ref maliciously? No. Would underhand have been better? Probably.

On fourth down, senior quarterback Jacob Hitz rolled to his left and tried to find senior Tyler Knutson down the sidelines, but they couldn’t connect. Blaine went into victory formation at its own 49-yard line with the Lakers out of timeouts.

Prior Lake finished the season with a 5-5 record, the first time it has not been over .500 since 2010 (4-5). The Lakers were also seeking their fourth state berth in the last six years.

Last year, Prior Lake lost 26-22 to East Ridge in the second round of the playoffs. The Raptors scored on a fake field goal with 15 seconds to play to steal the victory away from the Lakers

In 2014, the Lakers lost 10-7 to Maple Grove in the state quarterfinals. A sure touchdown pass was dropped near the end zone that would have given Prior Lake the lead in the second half. The Lakers also lost their top player, Alex Hart, to an injury in the first half.

How about 2013, a 17-14 loss at Osseo in a state-qualifying game. The Orioles kicked a field goal to take the lead with 2:13 to play. The Lakers’ attempt at a game-tying 46-yard field goal was dead on, but short by about four yards. Prior Lake led that game 14-7 in the third quarter.

Here is one glaring stat that Laker football fans don’t want to see since the program moved up to the biggest class in 2003. The Lakers are 0-11 in the playoffs or in state games against teams that had a better than .500 record in the regular season.

Meanwhile, in the loss to Blaine, Prior Lake grabbed a 17-14 lead on junior Jordan Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown run with 10:10 remaining. Hitz hit senior Ian O’Connor on a pass to the 2-yard line to set up the scoring run. Knutson intercepted a pass in Blaine territory to give Prior Lake a chance to take the lead.

The Lakers scored on their first possession of the game when Hitz hit a streaking O’Connor in the middle of the field for a 55-yard touchdown.

Blaine answered with two scores on what looked to be the exact same play. Quarterback Connor Melton tossed a simple pass to the flat to receiver Byron Bynum, who darted down the sidelines for 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7.

Prior Lake nearly scored on its next possession, but fumbled the ball out of the end zone for a Bengals touchback. Blaine took advantage, scoring again on basically the same play. Melton to Bynum on the flat – 66 yards later he was in the end zone for a 14-7 lead which is where the game stood at the half.

Melton and Bynum hooked up 13 times for 165 yards. Melton had 243 yards passing.

Senior Alex Brennan kicked a 24-yard field goal in the third quarter for the Lakers to cut the deficit to 14-10.

To see more photos of the Lakers’ loss at Blaine, click here http://www.swnewsmedia.com/prior_lake_american/class-a-football-prior-lake-vs-blaine/collection_f2cd2ad4-ecce-5e6b-999c-56c6adf9de82.html.