The bleachers at the St. Louis Park High School stadium were packed Friday night for the annual Homecoming football game and it turned out to be a happy one for the numerous orange and black clad fans in attendance who saw Aaron Ellingson throw two touchdown passes and run one in to lead the host Orioles to a 41-14 rout of the Richfield Spartans.
The Orioles would get the ball following a Spartans punt and they would score on their second play from scrimmage as Ellingson threw a 28 pass to Akili Farris to put St. Louis Park ahead 7-0. Richfield would lose defensive back Mitchell January to an ankle injury. He is the brother of former state track and field champion Jessica January.
Ellingson would be the exalted leader on offense for the Orioles in the second quarter as he would be the factor in both touchdowns. The first would come after Sajid Nathim's touchdown was called back due to a 10 yard holding penalty and on the next play, Ellingson threw a 19 yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam Thyne and the lead increased to 14. The junior quarterback would keep the ball and he headed down field like he was headed to the nearby Holiday station and scored on a 77 yard run that extended the St. Louis Park lead to 21. But there would be no shutout on this chilly Friday night as Richfield would wrap up the first half scoring on a 12 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Miles to Donovan Erickson Lange and the Orioles lead at the half 21-7.
Both teams would reach the end zone in the third quarter. The Orioles would strike first as Nathim would score on a 21 yard run. The Spartans would convert on a fourth down and three play when Jacob Kateley ran stately down the field and hauled in a 59 yard touchdown pass from Miles to cut St. Louis Park's lead to 28-14.
Farris would show his versatility in the fourth quarter as he also played in the backfield. He took a hand off from Ellingson and ran 35 yard to the Spartan three yard line and he would reach the end zone on the next play. Penalties and turnovers would plague Richfield and St. Louis Park would capitalize on a turnover as McCabe Dvorak intercepted a Miles pass and ran the ball for a touchdown to wrap up the scoring. With the outcome decided, both teams went to their reserve quarterbacks. Will Dvorak replaced Ellingson for the Orioles and Spartan head coach Kris Pulford put in Max O'Connell and took out Miles.
St. Louis Park evened their record at 2-2 and begins a two game road trip on Friday, September 28 when they head to Benilde-St. Margaret's to face the Red Knights at 7 PM. Richfield fell to 0-4 and will host the Holy Angels Stars on Saturday, September 29 at 1 PM.
Earlier in the day, the St. Louis Park soccer teams faced the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars in a doubleheader that was rescheduled from Thursday due to the heavy rains that pelted the Twin Cities. The boys recorded their fifth shutout in six games with a 1-0 win over the Jaguars and the girls blanked Jefferson 2-0. It was also the St. Louis Park girls third consecutive 2-0 win.
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