The weather outside Friday night could be frightful but for St. Louis Park Orioles football fans it will be delightful for the second of three home games as the Orioles host the Cooper Hawks.
Last week, St. Louis Park fell to 0-2 as the Orioles were whacked by the Waconia Wildcats 49-14. Sophomore running back Maxwell McEnelly rushed for 185 yards and recorded three touchdowns. The one bright spot for St. Louis Park was Derric Standifer, who accounted for both Oriole touchdowns. The senior receiver caught four passes for 103 yards. Quarterback Will Dvorak completed 10 of 17 passes for 125 yards before head coach Jason Foster pulled him late in the game for Zach Helfmann.
As for the Cooper Hawks, they evened their record at 1-1 with a 22-13 defeat last week by the Orono Spartans. The Hawks were trailing 15-0 after the third quarter but in the fourth, they almost came back to win thanks to two touchdowns from quarterback Joseph Russell. He scored the first touchdown with a 17 yard run and the second was a 28 yard completion to Broderick Powell that cut the Spartan lead to 15-13. But there was no hope that Friday night in New Hope when Graham Beltrand threw a 64 yard touchdown pass to Noah Arneson with 3:47 to go and it was the eventual game winner.
The key to the Orioles picking up their first win of the season is put a lot of defensive pressure on Russell. He's been a nemesis to the St. Louis Park defense and they need to slow him down to give them any chance of staying in the game. The Orioles still have to establish a running game that has been missing in the first two games.
Cooper's keys to the game are for Russell to once again spread the ball around to his receivers. Like the Orioles, they also have to get a running game going, averaging 59.5 yards on the ground. On defense, Jaxon Howard has been the key for the Hawks, recording eight tackles in both games. He and the rest of the Cooper defensive will put pressure on Will Dvorak.
For the 250 fans who plan to attend the game, don't forget to bundle up. Game time is 7 PM.
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