Power outage interrupts Eastview-Blaine state playoff game

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (KMSP) - One of the most important games of the season for two Twin Cities metro football teams was interrupted Thursday night when a power outage caused the lights to go out in the stadium. 

Eastview High School and Blaine High School were playing each other in the MSHSL State Football Tournament Class 6A quarterfinals at White Bear Lake Area High School. Blaine was up 14-3 with 10:32 left in the third quarter when the stadium suddenly went dark. 

Marisa Vette, a spokesperson for White Bear Lake Area Schools, said the high school had an electrical system failure in one of its main circuit breakers, which caused the stadium to lose all power. 

"I wasn't sure if we were still streaming," said Jeff Papas, an announcer for the game. "You always assume your mic is live, so that was what we did. Then, boom, everything went. Fans started lighting their cell phones and waving them. It was a party." 

The players waited in the cold, dark stadium to see if the lights would come back on.

"It was pretty weird. Kinda chaos for a little bit," said Ryan Riedel, a Blaine player. "We calmed down, got our composure back and were ready to play. It didn't happen. Pretty crazy."

"It's football," said Coach Ben Geisler of Blaine High School. "We're just happy to play football in November. There's light. We can see. We're just ready to finish the game." 

In the meantime, the cheerleaders from both teams joined together to keep the crowd entertained. 

The game was eventually postponed and moved to the following day. 

The teams kicked off at 3 p.m. on Friday at Osseo Senior High School, picking up right where they left off in the third quarter. 

Blaine eventually pulled through when the game restarted Friday, winning 42-14. They will face Eden Prairie High School at U.S. Bank Stadium on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.