On Oct. 10, the Royals defeated the Edina Hornets 27-24, and on Oct. 24, the teams were destined for a rematch in sections. With a win, the Royals would advance past the opening round of sections for the first time since 2010.

The Royals came out the gates with a bang. At the end of the first quarter, the Royals led 17-0 with a field goal, an Edina fumble recovered by Hopkins, and two Hopkins touchdowns.

The second quarter was a totally different story. After Edina missed a field goal on their first drive, the Hornets responded with 17 unanswered points to even up the score at the half.

The Royals and Hornets traded touchdowns to start the third quarter. However, Edina senior kicker Patrick LeCorre’s extra point hit the crossbar to give the Royals a 24-23 lead.

Edina then scored back-to-back touchdowns and failed an attempted two-point conversion to make the score 36-24.

The Royals responded with a 69-yard touchdown from Tyler Lee, senior to Taj Winston, senior, that amplified the crowd. After the score, the HHS student section began chanting, “It’s not over.”

And, in fact, they were correct. On Edina’s ensuing drive, Andy Aune, junior picked off a pass from Edina quarterback Charlie Smith, senior. This turnover led to a Lee touchdown pass to Kyle Johnson, senior that gave the Royals their first lead since the 4:59 mark in the third quarter.

The Hornets got the ball back with over five minutes left in the game with the hope of regaining the lead. Although Edina had experienced success earlier in the game through the air, Smith’s pass was intercepted by Drew Sension, senior to clinch the Royals 37-36 victory.

The victory over Edina was the Royals first section tournament win since 2010. On Oct. 31, the Royals will travel to Lakeville North for a play-in game to the state tournament. A victory would mean put the Royals into the state tournament for the first time in the program’s history.