Since there will be no state football tournament this season due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the 2020 football season will wrap up with section play, including St. Louis Park's section 5AAAAA. Here's a preview of this season's section pairings.
Looking at the upper bracket, the top seeded Spring Lake Panthers get an opening round bye. The Panthers have won five straight games since losing their season opener to the Becker Bulldogs. Four of their five victories have come by way of a shutout. Spring Lake Park runs a high powered offense that runs the football a lot. Aaron Payne has led the Panther rushing attack with five touchdowns. Nate Litke and Aaron Clausen have four touchdowns apiece.
Spring Lake Park will face the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between the fifth seeded St. Louis Park Orioles and the fourth seeded Irondale Knights. It's been a rough road for head coach Jason Foster in his first season leading the Orioles. The one bright spot came on November 7 when St. Louis Park upset the unbeaten Orono Spartans 35-27. But four days later, the Orioles fell to earth with a 37-14 drubbing from the unbeaten Chanhassen Storm. Up in New Brighton, the Irondale Knights played only four games this season due to their games cancelled against Henry Sibley and Armstrong due to the coronavirus. The Knights shined brightly with wins over the Park Center Pirates and the Eastview Lightning. Reuben Kings and Jordan Shaw anchor the Irondale backfield that combined for three touchdowns against the Lightning. Can the Orioles head into a rematch with the Panthers? It should be an interesting game this coming Tuesday night.
Looking at the lower bracket, the second seeded Cooper Hawks also get a quarterfinal bye. The Hawks finished their regular season with a record of 3-3, coming up short on November 11 against the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights 36-34. Cooper is led by quarterback Joseph Russell and running back Camden Royal who has five touchdowns this season.
Who will head to New Hope for the semifinals? It will be the winner of the quarterfinal game between the sixth seeded Park Center Pirates and the third seeded Minneapolis Southwest Lakers. It's been a dismal year for the Brooklyn Park based Pirates, going 0-6 in the regular season. They lost their season finale to the Hopkins Royals 38-14. Quarterback Marcus Freeman and running back Desmond Scott would tally for Park Center. The Lakers enter section play with a 4-2 record, losing to a pair of perennial powers the St. Croix Lutheran Crusaders and the Minneapolis North Polars. Southwest is a team that also likes to run the ball, averaging 219 rushing yards per game. Nick Flaskamp is the Lakers leading rusher with 1103 yards and nine trips to the end zone. Flaskamp also excels on defense, recording 93 tackles in 2020.
Get ready for exciting section play beginning Tuesday, November 17.
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