Last night, in a 34-28 loss to the historic powerhouse Eden Prairie Eagles, the Royals showed that their transformation this season was the real deal.

 The Royals jumped out to a seven-point lead early in the first quarter thanks to a touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Lee, senior to Bill Atkins, senior wide receiver.

 The Eden Prairie running game then proved too hard to stop for the Royals as three rushing touchdowns propelled the Eagles to a 28-7 halftime lead.

 When down 21 points to the best team in the state, you might expect a team to feel defeated and begin the second half without much enthusiasm. The Royals did the opposite.

 Following a fumble recovery, the Royals inched their way back into the game with a second touchdown connection between Lee and Atkins.

 Though down by 14 points, the momentum for the Royals continued to rise as Joey Mydra, senior blocked a punt, giving the Royals the ball on Eden Prairie’s 37-yard line.

 The Royals’ drive and momentum ground to a halt with an Eagles interception with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter. However, on the Royals’ next possession, a conversion on a pivotal fourth-down-and-six led to Lee’s third touchdown of the night on a pass to wide receiver Tajuan Winston, senior.

 Even after the Eagles scored on a 60-yard rushing touchdown, the Royals would not throw in the towel.

 Lee’s fourth passing touchdown, again to Winston, with over two minutes to go in the game pulled the Royals within six points.

 However, a handful of penalties and first downs on the Eagles’ next possession sealed the game and the Lake Conference title.

 The regular season-finale loss gave the Royals a 5-3 record on the year. Or so we thought.

 Tonight around 7 p.m., an article posted by mnfootballhub.com stated that the Royals football team voluntarily vacated their 37-14 win over Superior, WI in their first game on Aug. 22. The win was vacated due to an “administrative error” regarding an ineligible Royals player.

 The team was told a month ago that they would likely be forced to vacate the win, but they believed that once the player was reinstated (which happened in the week leading up to their game at Wayzata on Sept. 26) that they would get the victory back. This was not the case.

 The vacated win puts the Royals at 4-4 on the season but will not affect the third seed they were awarded for the section tournament.

The Royals’ first section tournament game will be at home against Edina on Fri., Oct. 24. Their path to the state tournament at TCF Bank Stadium may include some significant roadblocks: a road game against Lakeville North (Royals lost 39-13 on Aug. 28) and the same Eden Prairie team they lost to last night by six points.