A couple of miscues kept things interesting, but Maple Grove imposed its will again afterward and rolled to a 42-21 victory at Prior Lake.

After establishing a 13-0 lead in the first half, the Crimson had a botched punt and a turnover on downs that set up Prior Lake with a couple touchdowns to take a 14-13 lead. Junior quarterback Brad Davison then led the Crimson offense down field for a field goal by Tyler Knuston late in the half, 16-13.

“We’re addressing it,” Crimson coach Matt Lombardi said about the first half mistakes. “It’s also a part of every game, and you can’t use it as an excuse, but I thought that we did bounce back, and we had a very good second half.”

Isaac Collins, who went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season, had the first two scores of the game on runs of one and two yards in the first quarter. The senior running back finished with 170 yards on 31 carries, and he scored five TDs.

Collins had three of those in the second half as the Crimson pulled away. He put the team up 29-14 by the 5:55 mark of the third quarter, and Ryan Hanscome made it a 36-14 ballgame on an 11-yard TD run.

“We were a little more settled in the second half,”  Lombardi said.

Hanscome finished with 53 yards on 12 carries in helping the Crimson amass 278 yards on the ground. Davison had a solid night running the ball with 40 yards on eight tries, and he torched the Lakers secondary for 209 yards passing. He completed 12 of 17 passes and had a QB rating o 112.1 for the night.

“Our play action game was very effective,” Lombardi said.

Jared Martinson led Crimson receivers with four catches for 78 yards, and Eddie Lee caught three passes for 82 yards. Hanscome moved the chains once on a 26-yard catch. Collins, Ryan Bredensteiner and Samuel Ross each had a reception or more.

Lukas Burrington had a big game on defense with a team-high eight tackles and forced fumble recovery. Joseph Wallick, Tyler Little and Leroy Kwateh each garnered six tackles.

“He’s been a great leader for us and works really hard in the offseason,” Lombardi said of Burrington, a second-year starter.

Prior Lake mustered just one TD in the second half, which came early in the fourth quarter. The Crimson held the Lakers to 80 yards rushing and 133 passing. Also significant, the Lakers only got run 48 plays while the Crimson offense owned the ball with 71 plays.

“We controlled the ball well,” Lombardi said.

Maple Grove improved to 5-2 and can still make a case for a higher playoff seed on Friday at home against Shakopee (1-6). Lombardi doesn’t want his team looking past the Sabers because of their record though. Shakopee beat Edina on Sept. 25 and lost to Prior Lake by a point on Sept. 11.

“They’re playing really well right now,” Lombardi said. “They’ve got a brand new coach, and I think it took them about 3-4 weeks to get the ball rolling.”