sailor. mnsun. com Fall Football Preview • Thursday, August 27, 2026 Page 7
EDEN PRAIRIE EAGLES
Top 10 now and looking for Top 5
JOHN SHERMAN john. sherman @ apgecm. com
This is Mike Grant’ s 35th season as Eden Prairie High football coach and his 47th season of coaching overall.
During that time, Grant has won 11 Prep Bowls and a mythical state title in a COVID-19 season. No other head coach in Class 6A football has more wins.
The goal at Eden Prairie is the same every season – To be playing in November and competing for the state championship. The Eagles made it to November last year, then lost to eventual state champion Edina 23-21 on a very cold night at Osseo High’ s Carl Tonn Field.
“ We’ re in a typical situation this year,” coach Grant said as practice opened last week.“ We graduated some really good football players. Every year we tell our new seniors, you’ re the great players now.”
Grant is encouraged about the 2026 campaign for two main reasons: 1. The off-season progress his boys made in the weight room and 2. The return of two of the main offensive weapons from last year’ s 8-3 team.
“ We had the best off-season weight room in a few years, and I feel good about where we are physically,” coach Grant said.“ This is the strongest team we’ ve had in seven years. Our schedule is the same as last year – with the home and away dates flipped.
“ There isn’ t an easy game on the schedule. It’ s a cliché, but we have to play one at a time and follow the process. Three
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Captain Jack Badon( left) of the Eden Prairie High football team is comparable in size to one of the Eagles’ new assistant coaches, Willie Mobley, who was a Division I football player for Arizona for two seasons and New Mexico State for one season.
of the final-four teams last year are from the West District and two of them [ Edina and Moorhead ] played in the Prep Bowl. That’ s a tough district.”
Moving the discussion to Eden Prairie’ s offensive weapons, junior running back Owen Konrad is clearly one of the state’ s elite players. He carried the ball 136 times for 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns in his sophomore year.
“ We didn’ t want to overwork him, and we had some other capable backs,” Grant said.“ Owen plays hockey and baseball, and we want to keep him healthy for those sports.”
Windlan Hall, a senior this season, was one of those capable backs. He rushed for 605 yards on 79 carries with an average of 7.7 yards per carry. Hall caught five passes for 87 yards and returns as a thirdyear starter in the defensive backfield.
On the opening day of practice Monday, Aug. 17, Konrad’ s 40-yard dash time was 4.45 seconds and Hall followed closely with 4.5.
Jack Badon, a senior captain and third-year starter at guard, said,“ Our job is to get the backs out in open space.”
Going into the season, the Eagles have a wealth of depth at quarterback.“ We probably have four or five kids who could start,”” Grant said. Most of the snaps last season were taken by graduated senior Jackson Bakkum, who threw for 597 yards. That is fairly typical for an Eden Prairie team since the program is so proficient at running the football.
That running attack relies on big blockers along the front. Leading the Eagles are two returning starters – 6-1, 280- pound center Joe Broich and
6-2, 250-pound guard Badon.
At right tackle, the Eagles have more size with 6-4, 280- pound Jake Anderson.
“ We are big in the offensive line,” Grant said.“ And we also have size on the defensive line with juniors Taylor Hussong and Drew Erlandson. There are four or five other defensive line prospects. Badon could see action on defense.”
On the back side of the defense, the Eagles have returning starters Luke Elliott at linebacker, Quaid Johnson at corner and Mak Anderson at safety or linebacker.
The players’ confidence in coach Grant is sky-high, according to captain Hall, who said,“ Playing for Mike Grant is like playing for a college coach. The advantage for all of us is that he’ s not just out here, he’ s coaching us all the time.”
QUICK HITS
Head Coach Mike Grant 35th Season
Last Year’ s Record: 8-3
Key Returning Players
Speedy backs are set to resume what they accomplished during the 2025 season. Eden Prairie’ s leading rusher, junior Owen Konrad, is the focal point of the offense. Dangerous alongside him is senior Windlan Hall. In addition to starring on the offensive side, Hall is a third-year starter in the defensive secondary.
As usual, Eden Prairie has made good use of the weight room during the off season. Guard Jack Badon is a third-year starting offensive guard and Joe Broich is an outstanding returnee at center.
Eden Prairie is very quick on defense with linebackers Mak Anderson and Luke Elliott in front of a secondary that includes Hall and returning starter Quaid Johnson.
The Eagles do not have an experienced varsity quarterback, however, Mike Grant has a pool of four or five good athletes competing for the starting assignment.
Schedule
Sept. 3: At Anoka Sept. 10: Maple Grove Sept. 18: At Edina Sept. 25: St. Michael-Albertville Oct. 2: Minnetonka Oct. 9: At Moorhead, 6 p. m. Oct. 14: Eastview Oct. 23: At Wayzata
Game times 7 p. m. unless otherwise noted