Farmington Tigers Win Historic First High School Game at TCO Stadium

History was made Friday night in Eagan as Zac Janz scored three touchdowns to lead the Farmington Tigers to a 41-28 win over the Eagan Wildcats in the first high school football game at TCO Stadium.

The 6,255 fans who populated the new training camp home of the Minnesota Vikings got to see both teams reach the end zone in the first quarter.  The Tigers capitalized on an interception by Luke Weierke that began their drive at the Wildcat 20 yard line and Janz would score on a five yard touchdown run.  Eagan would even the score at seven on Max Meekin's 56 yard run down the right side.

Farmington would forge ahead in the second quarter with four touchdowns.  Sophomore quarterback Alex Berreth completed a 42 yard pass to Alijah Moe and then Berreth scored on a one yard run. Janz would score his second touchdown on a one yard run that followed a 24 yard completion to Eli Green.  The combination of Berreth to Moe would factor into the third touchdown as Berreth went deep to Moe for 66 yards.  Moe would also haul in an 18 yard score and the Tigers led at halftime 33-7.

Going into the second half, the Wildcats began the opening drive at their own 22 yard line and got a solid ground game from Carter Lyons that would culminate in a one yard touchdown run from Cole Gibson.  But Eagan was not done yet.  They would reach the end zone a second time as Max Meekin would scamper down the green turf 63 yards to cut the Farmington lead to 33-21.

Could the Wildcats complete a monumental comeback in the fourth quarter?  They would cut the deficit to five as Cole Sackmaster mastered the art of the interception with a 33 yard touchdown.  But the comeback would be aborted as a fumbled pitch by quarterback Ethan Gugino was recovered by the Tigers Kyle Newham and the ball would be spotted at the Eagan 13 yard line.  Following a Wildcat penalty, Janz would reach the end zone on a two yard run, his third touchdown of the night.

Both teams return to action on Friday, October 5 at 7 PM.  Farmington improved their record to 1-4 and heads up I-35 to Burnsville to take on the Blaze.  Eagan fell to 0-5 and hosts the Prior Lake Lakers.

Dave Giles, a familiar voice to state tournament fans was the public address announcer for the inaugural TCO Stadium high school game.  "It's an honor.  An absolute honor," said the voice for many Eagan athletic events throughout the school year.

HSGN interviewed a couple of fans at halftime to get their views on the historic game.  First up was Eric Sunden of Farmington.  "A lot of fun.  Great stadium.  Hats off to the Vikings for doing this for the kids."
Also interviewed was Brent DeNoma of Eagan.  "It's an outstanding venue.  A very special night for the kids."