For a game played on Halloween night, Eden Prairie’s gritty 21-16 win over Champlin Park in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs certainly provided the requisite thrills and chills.

The No. 3 seed Eagles came through with a goal-line stand, a fumble recovery in the end zone on an errant shotgun snap, and a season-defining 91-yard drive to secure a win over the No. 2 seed Rebels and earn a trip to the state quarterfinals.

The conditions were perfect for a defensive battle on Champlin Park’s home field: rain, cold and penalties. Lots of penalties.

“We’ve had this crew before, and they call a lot of penalties,” Eagles head coach Mike Grant said. “And we tell our guys they’re just going to call it.”

The coach wasn’t wrong. Eden Prairie had 176 yards in total offense, along with 119 yards from 10 penalties in the game.

The Eagles struck first and took a 7-0 lead off quarterback Jackson Bakkum’s 2-yard run in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, a tough Eden Prairie defense that held Champlin Park to 185 yards in total offense put the Eagles in a position to be successful.

“Our boys played well,” Eden Prairie defensive coordinator Anthony Johnson said. “They play well on the edge, they made plays when we needed them, and we’re super proud of them.”

Several of those big plays came in the second quarter when the Rebel offense threatened to score at the tail end of a 16-play drive that started on their own 27-yard line.

Champlin Park found themselves with a first-and-goal on the Eden Prairie 1-yard line when the call came from the sideline.

“It’s called Rhino,” Eden Prairie senior captain Ethan Sather said, describing the Eagles’ goal-line package. “It’s where me and (Jake) Gau go in. It definitely turns on a different level.”

Sather is 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds; Gau is towering at 6-7 and weighing in at 290. Their “day job” is to anchor the right side of the Eagles’ offensive line with Sather at guard and Gau at tackle.

But they never miss an opportunity to help the defense when opponents are deep in the red zone.

“Oh, it’s the best thing ever. Stops them every time,” Gau said of the defensive package. “At Minnetonka, we had a stop. Here, we had to stop. They couldn’t stop us.”

Nor could they contain Sather’s enthusiasm as he took the field.

“He was amped up,” Gau said of Sather’s zeal. “The ref was not having it. He thought we were taunting them, but we were just ready to hit.”

Sather said the Rhino goal-line package is “definitely a mentality” and believes it provides a spark to his teammates on defense.

“I was excited to be able to play some defense with the boys,” he said. “They played so great tonight.”

The Rhinos helped make stops on three straight plays from the goal line thanks to tackles by Luke Elliott, Luke Henry and Andrew Johnson.

A Champlin Park penalty on third down moved the ball back to the Eden Prairie 12-yard line, where the Rebels had one more chance for a touchdown.

“I think that’s where we’re strong,” Anthony Johnson said of the success the defense has had inside the 20-yard line. “And so we get the big guys up front. Our linebackers are flowing downhill and our (defensive backs) are playing tight. That’s not necessarily where they want them to be, but we play really well down in the red zone.”

The Eagles made the stop on third down, forcing Champlin Park to settle for a field goal.

“Great goal-line stand there on the 1,” Grant said. “Our kids did a great job.”

The 7-3 score held until halftime, with Champlin Park getting the ball to start the third quarter.

The Rebels drove from their own 32-yard line to the Eden Prairie 29, but the Eagles took over on downs after Elliott stopped Champlin Park quarterback Miles Felton on fourth-and-18.

On the Eagles’ next offensive series, it was time for the football ghosts of Halloween to come out in a series of bizarre plays.

Champlin Park knocked the ball loose on a run by Eden Prairie running back Andrew Johnson, caught it on the run, and raced 26 yards for a touchdown.

Suddenly, the Rebels held a 10-7 lead with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter.

“It’s a lot more fun when it’s interesting till the end,” Eden Prairie senior defensive end Gavin Walden said afterward, looking back on the game’s twists and turns.

On their next defensive series, Eden Prairie had Champlin Park pinned deep in their own territory.

On a third-and-four from the Rebels’ 16-yard line, a high snap from center sailed over Felton and into the end zone.

“Seeing that ball get snapped overhead, I knew I had to get off that block, and then I started sprinting,” Eden Prairie freshman defensive end Jayden Bates said.

Bates had the presence of mind to know he couldn’t get to the ball before Felton, so he made a split-second decision amid the chaos.

“I knew I couldn’t get that ball because he would just grab it,” Bates said. “So I just hit that quarterback so my teammates could get that ball.”

Bates took out Felton as the ball rolled to the back of the end zone, where Walden pounced on it for an Eden Prairie touchdown.

“That’s all credit to Jayden. He was the one who had the first shot at it, and then he tackled the quarterback,” Walden said. “He gave up an opportunity to score for himself, and the ball popped into my hands, and I was lucky to get on it.”

With Harrison Serk’s extra-point kick, Eden Prairie regained the lead, holding a 14-10 edge with 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Eagles’ defense held Champlin Park on the following series, forcing a punt that gave Eden Prairie the ball on their own 9-yard line with 11:22 remaining in regulation.

The players in the offensive huddle knew that a sustained drive culminating in a touchdown would all but seal the victory for Eden Prairie.

“That drive, we knew that’s for the game,” Gau said. “We knew we could do it. We practice all the time. We just run our basics. That’s what Eden Prairie football is.”

On the Eagles’ first set of downs, the offense stalled, facing a fourth-and-1 on their own 21-yard line.

Grant took a risk, opting to go for the first down, giving senior running back Justice Bates the call.

“I just followed my blocks and I took it,” Bates said. “Some of the guys are pushing me, the linemen; we’ve got the best O-linemen in the state.”

Bates has been the Eagles’ short-yardage answer throughout the season, particularly near the goal line. His nine touchdowns on the season are second only to Andrew Johnson’s 10 touchdowns.

“It starts all the way from the offseason,” Bates said. “From all the hard work we put in, we knew we had to come down there and score.”

Bates’ number came up again on a first down from the Eden Prairie 31-yard line.

He picked up eight yards on his own and another seven yards with help from teammates pushing the pile forward to the Eagles’ 45-yard line.

“Our O-line was out there, pushing me, helping me out there,” Bates said. “I knew when I get that ball, I had to run, run, run, run like there’s no tomorrow.”

Eden Prairie gained 19 more yards when Bakkum broke loose on a naked bootleg to the Champlin Park 26-yard line.

On a third-and-nine from the Champlin Park 25, Bakkum found tight end Braden Minta for 15 yards and another first down.

“Penalties kept knocking us back,” Grant said. “But then we hit a big pass down here to Minta, so we made some big plays when we had to.”

After a false start penalty moved the Eagles back to the Champlin Park 13-yard line, sophomore leading rusher Owen Konrad picked up 10 yards to the 3-yard line.

And on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Walden took a handoff around the left edge and found the corner for an Eden Prairie touchdown.

“It’s just good old fashioned Eden Prairie football,” Walden said. “We knew coming in that we had a good group of guys that can move the ball, and that’s exactly what we did.”

The run capped a 16-play, 91-yard drive that burned 8:27 off the clock. Eden Prairie led 21-10 with 2:55 to play in the fourth quarter.

“We trust each other. Trust our blocks,” Walden added. “The running backs played very, very well.”

Champlin Park scored a quick touchdown with 1:46 remaining, but the Eagles recovered the ensuing onside kick.

After a victory formation, the win was sealed. Eden Prairie now moves on to face Edina in the state quarterfinals on Friday.

“We didn’t have a great game, but I think the resilience at the end really showed what we can do,” Sather said afterward. “And that’s great momentum moving forward.”

Grant singled out the goal-line stand in the first half and the 91-yard drive in the second half as outstanding moments in the game.

“That’s playoff football,” he told the team immediately after the game. “I’m proud of you. Great job.”

The Eagles defeated Edina 40-19 back in Week 3, a result that echoes back to 2023, when Eden Prairie soundly beat the Hornets early in the season but was surprised by its crosstown rival in the state semifinal game.

In the afterglow of the win over Champlin Park, the outcome of Edina’s playoff matchup with Forest Lake (Grant’s former team before coming to Eden Prairie in 1992) was still in doubt.

Grant was asked if he had a preferred opponent in the quarterfinals.

“It doesn’t matter to us, honestly,” he said. “Whichever one, we’re just happy to go to a neutral site in Osseo next week.

“And six o’clock game Friday night, and then we got a bunch of kids going deer hunting on Saturday. So good for them, too.”

‘Tis the season.