A busy Friday night of Minnesota high school football features the St. Louis Park Orioles, playing in their first section final since they lost to the Hutchinson Tigers in 2004 going against the Cooper Hawks in the 2017 Section 5AAAAA final at 7 PM in New Hope.
The Orioles advanced with a win over the sixth seeded Park Center Pirates 21-18 in the semifinals. The Orioles built a 21-0 lead in the first half that included two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Johnny Sorenson and they didn't reach the end zone in the second half. The Pirates had a chance to pull of the upset for the second game in a row after they eliminated the Irondale Knights on October 24 in the quarterfinals but Jemal Brown threw an incomplete pass on fourth down that sent St. Louis Park to the section final.
As for the Cooper Hawks, they won their ninth consecutive game with a 23-0 shutout of the Spring Lake Park Panthers, denying the Panthers a chance to continue their quest for a return trip to US Bank Stadium where they lost to the Elk River Elks in last year's Class AAAAA final. The Hawks got an outstanding game from 5'5" junior running back Nascier Borden as he had 16 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown.
It will be a rematch of a regular season game that was played September 8 at Cooper as the Hawks overcame a 14-0 deficit and routed the Orioles 40-17. Borden ran for 165 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns and Sorenson was a dual threat for St. Louis Park, completing 20 of 35 passes for 315 yards and rushing for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Though Cooper will be heavily favored and looking for their first trip to the state tournament since 1996, don't count out St. Louis Park for a potential upset. They will need to have a big game from Sorenson and their defense will need to stop Borden and Hawk quarterback Cameron King. The Hawks will have to play strong defense and get a good game from Borden and King.
If you plan on attending, bundle up. The weather picture calls for snow showers mixed with rain and a game time temperature of 35 degrees.
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