If there's any guarantee in Friday's home opener for the St. Louis Park Orioles as they face the Waconia Wildcats, one of the two teams will pick up their first win of the season.
Last Friday, the Orioles raised the curtain on the Jason Foster era as they headed down Highway 212 to battle the defending Class AAAAA champion Chaska Hawks. It was all Chaska as the purple and gold clad Hawks routed the Orioles 44-7. There was a bright sport for the St. Louis Park offense in quarterback Will Dvorak. He completed 10 of 24 passes for 155 and that included a 45 yard touchdown pass to Brady Walsh. Where was the Oriole ground game? Missing in action that Friday night. Zeke Oppegaard was their leading rusher with 18 yards on 13 carries. The total net yardage for St. Louis Park was -34. Will Dvorak finished with -54 rushing yards. Can the Orioles avoid going 0-2 against Carver County schools?
As for the Wildcats, they also opened their season with a defeat, losing 20-13 to the Cooper Hawks. Waconia has an outstanding sophomore running back in Maxwell McEnelly. He gained 134 yards on 16 carries as he reached the end zone twice. His brother Samuel ran six times for 41 yards. Senior quarterback Karson Dobmeier passed for 95 yards and ran for 27. On defense, he recorded seven tackles.
The key for St. Louis Park to win their home opener is to establish a rushing game. They will need to run the ball and turn last week's total yardage into a positive. On defense, the Orioles will need to contain Maxwell McEnelly and put pressure on Dobmeier.
Waconia will need to have a strong game from Maxwell McEnelly and a balanced receiver attack like last week against Cooper when Dobmeier utilized seven receivers.
Who will pick up their first win of 2020? Find out Friday night. Game time is 7 PM so if you're one of the 250 people allowed to attend, be sure and bundle up. It's going to be chilly.
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