Shakopee football coach Ray Betton was coming off his best season after going 10-2 and reaching the Class 6A state semifinals last year.

A state championship is the next step. Shakopee players weren’t afraid to talk about that goal to start the season, but that meant backing it up against the best.

The Sabers, ranked No. 3 in Strib Varsity’s Minnesota Top 25, faced their first true measuring stick Friday and survived with a 16-12 win against No. 9 Lakeville South at home.

“They never gave up,” Betton said. “There were a lot reasons to duck our heads, but they just didn’t.”

Turnovers and penalties put pressure on a Shakopee defense that gave up its first points of the season on two 1-yard touchdown runs by Gavin Stuart, including the TD that gave the Cougars a 12-10 lead in the third quarter.

In last week’s 41-0 win at Eagan, the Sabers won the turnover battle 5-0, but Friday wouldn’t be a mistake-free game by any means.

In the first half, Betton watched frustrated from the sidelines as Shakopee lost three fumbles.

“We did everything in the beginning of the first half to give these guys the game,” said Betton, whose team also had eight penalties, including five in the fourth quarter. “I give credit to our defense for doing a good job, but we just couldn’t get out of our own way tonight. That happens sometimes with a young team.”

Shakopee’s Blake Betton, also a standout safety, made a 29-yard catch to end the third quarter. The Sabers used Betton’s big play to score on a 20-yard run by Joseph Taye to take back the lead opening the fourth.

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Blake Betton’s father was coaching the defense on the sidelines, so he didn’t get to see his son’s spectacular catch.

“That was just a blast,” Blake Betton said. “I’m not really on offense that much. So when I can come in and make a big play for the team that always means a lot.”

The biggest defensive play of the game was when the Sabers stopped Lakeville South’s Nic Swanson for no gain on fourth-and-2 on their own 33 with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter. Swanson was coming off a state-leading 251 yards rushing in a 34-7 opening win vs. Mounds View.

The programs hadn’t met since Lakeville South ended Shakopee’s season in the 2023 Class 6A state tournament’s second round.

The Cougars, who had four straight wins vs. the Sabers entering Friday, hadn’t lost in the series since falling 29-7 on the road in 2017.

That was a different time for both programs. Lakeville South finished that year with its second straight losing season, going 4-6. Betton, hired in 2015, turned Shakopee around by going 5-5 after just two wins combined in his first two seasons.

This was the first matchup in several years when Shakopee and Lakeville South both were legit Class 6A contenders.

In 2021, the Cougars were led to the state championship by star running back Carson Hansen, who went on to play at Iowa State. That state tourney run included a 42-35 win vs. Shakopee in the quarterfinals.

It was far from that sort of offensive showcase Friday night, but the Cougars were within striking distance of taking back the lead with under a minute left before a roughing-the-kicker penalty backed them up on the final play.

“The message to the team at the end of the game was that if we control ourselves better we’re in a better position,” Lakeville South coach Ben Burk said. “It takes 48 minutes of good football, especially a team of that caliber. [Betton] does a great job.”