Bloomington Stadium Era Comes to an End

 When the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars defeated the Apple Valley Eagles 17-13 in the Section 3AAAAA semifinals on a chilly Saturday afternoon, it also marked the end of an era as Bloomington Stadium hosted its final high school football game.  

Next season Jefferson and Kennedy will play in on campus facilities.  

Due to the cold weather, HSGN did not cover the entire game.  The blogger came at halftime and asked several people about the demise of a popular Bloomington sports venue that's been around since the late 1950s on the site of what was then Lincoln High School.  Lincoln shut down in 1982.  

Former Jefferson principal and current football public address announcer Kevin Groebner played high high school football at Lincoln and graduated in 1971.  "i grew up with this stadium.  You hate to see it go away."  He also mentioned that the Vikings and Washington Redskins (now Commanders) used the field to practice when the teams play at Met Stadium.  

Groebner's sidekick in the pressbox, timer Joe Meuwissen recalled the great games for Jefferson and Kennedy as well as the atmosphere on game nights.  

Jeff Evens, whose father Jack was an assistant football coach and the first boys basketball coach in Jefferson history has been attending home games since 1970 recalls the Friday Night Lights in Bloomington.  "That's what you do on Friday nights.  You go to football games."  

The last person interviewed was a fellow adjacent to the blogger in the bleachers Mike Biever.  He praised Bloomington Stadium for it's good location, lighting and parking.  "It's a grass field, not a turf field," he said.  

More than 60 years of high school football, soccer and Normandale football have been played on the grass field at the corner of 88th St. and Queen Ave. S.  What will happen to Bloomington Stadium?  We don't known but the memories will live on.  

Can the SLP Orioles Pull the Upset in Plymouth?

 No folks.  This is not a rerun.  For the third straight year the St. Louis Park Orioles will battle the Armstrong Falcons in the Section 5AAAAA Football semifinals Saturday in Plymouth.  

Following a 58-0 thrashing by the Chanhassen Storm in their regular season finale, the fifth seeded Orioles battled the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers in the play-in game on October 24, a day that was cold and rainy.  Both teams were scoreless until the fourth quarter when St. Louis Park came back from a 3-0 deficit on Mason Helfmann's touchdown with 1:08 left to play.  Helfmann was the bright spot in the Orioles offense, carrying 34 times for 160 yards.  Defense prevailed a St. Louis Park had three interceptions and Henry Schrader forced two fumbles.  

The key to the game for St. Louis Park is for the offensive line to give Helfmann running room and for Rickord to get back into a passing rhythm .  

Looking at the Falcons, they come into semifinal play with a 6-2 record as they ended their regular season with a 42-7 defeat by the Andover Huskies.  Armstrong has a high powered offense that has scored 42 points in three of their six wins.  Dawson Franke runs the Armstrong offense and has thrown 16 touchdown passes this season.  The big question for the Falcons is will running back Kevon Johnson back in the lineup?  He missed the Andover game due to an injury.  Johnson has rushed for more than 100 yards in all but one game this season and reached the end zone 11 times.  He was held to 74 yards in a 44-13 loss to the St. Thomas Academy Cadets.  

The key to the game for Armstrong is a healthy Johnson and for the defense to shut down the Oriole attack.  

It will be a chilly weather picture Saturday, so if yo plan on attending the game, dress in layers.  Game time is 2 PM.  

SLP Orioles-Mpls. Southwest Lakers Football Preview

 Section play gets underway in high school football Tuesday night throughout Minnesota and the St. Louis Park Orioles open the Section 5AAAAA tournament against the fourth seeded host, the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers.  

The Orioles closed out the 2023 regular season with a record of 1-7, including a 58-0 drubbing from the top ranked Chanhassen Storm.  The Storm got five touchdowns from Josiah Cox, starting with a 64 yard run on the first play from scrimmage.  Cox finished with 195 yards on 16 carries.  St. Louis Park had a rough going on offense, gaining only 71 total yards.  Nobody had positive rushing yardage.  On the brighter side, cooper Schultz caught four passes for 72 yards and Bryson Huntley recorded six tackles.  

The key to the game for the Orioles is for the offense to get back on track after a tough game against a team that could play in US Bank Stadium in November.  

Looking at the Lakers, they enter section play with a record of 3-5.  Three of their losses came against Two Rivers, Cooper and Minneapolis North.  Southwest ended their regular season with a 27-0 shutout of St. Paul Harding/Humboldt.  The Lakers were led by quarterback Kyler Thom who completed 10 of 17 passes for 218 yards and threw a 35 yard touchdown pass to Jassir Conway in the first quarter. Andres Ramos ran 10 times for 101 yards.  Defense was also a factor when Liam Farniock scored on an interception.  

The key to the game for Southwest is to continue to play solid defense and for Thom to test the St. Louis Park defense with some downfield passes.  

The winner faces the top seeded Armstrong Falcons on Saturday, October 28 at 2 PM in Plymouth.  It might be a wet weather picture around game time so bring an umbrella if you plan to head to the game.  Game time is 6 PM.  

Chanhassen Storm-SLP Orioles Football Preview

 Another storm cloud will enter St. Louis Park Wednesday night as the Oriole football team concludes their regular season against the top ranked team in Class 5A, the unbeaten Chanhassen Storm.  

St. Louis Park's Homecoming game was played in steady rain last Friday as the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders beat the Orioles 20-6.  Mason Helfmann scored the only touchdown for the Orioles, who enter the final week of the regular season with a record of 1-6.  No individual statistics were provided according to mnfootballhub.com.  

The key to the game for St. Louis Park is to try to solve a tough Chanhassen defense and minimize turnovers.  

This season, the Chanhassen Storm has been into the woods as their top running back Maxwell woods has led them to a 7-0 record and a team that could be playing in the Prep Bowl Thanksgiving weekend.  Woods, who has committed to North Dakota State, is 12 yards shy of 1000 was not a factor in the Storm's 21-0 shutout of district rival Chaska last Friday.  The Chanhassen defense was led by Tyler Burton, who recorded seven tackles.  

The key to the game for the Storm is for Woods and his backfield mate Daxton Bush to wear down the oriole defense.  

The weather picture for Wednesday has better news. The high temperature will be in the mid 50s and no rain in the forecast.  Game time is 7 PM.  

Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders Reign on SLP Orioles Homecoming

 The bleachers were packed on a cold, wet and rainy Friday night for the St. Louis Park Orioles Homecoming game but the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders got two field goals from Aidan Macke and two touchdowns from Jaylen Gayles to lead them to a 20-6 victory.

In the first quarter, the Raiders would get a pair of field goals from Gayles.  The first came from 28 yards, the second from 41 and CDH built a 6-0 lead.  

It looked like there would be a scoreless second quarter.  Not so as Miles Bollinger threw a right side pass to Gayles for a nine yard touchdown with :28.8 left in the first half and the Raiders led 13-0 at halftime. 

There would be some joy for the multitudes of orange and black clad fans who braved the cold and driving rain as the Orioles capped a three play drive in the third quarter that started with quarterback Josh Rickord completed passes to Cooper Schultz and Jeremy Eichten.  Mason Helfmann would reach the end zone on a 10 yard run.  

CDH would put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter when Bollinger made a right side pitch to Gayles and he went eight yards for a touchdown to end their five game losing streak.  

The Raiders improved their record to 2-5 and conclude their regular season on Wednesday, October 18 against the Irondale Knights at 7:30 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium of the University of St. Thomas campus.  The Orioles fell to 1-6 and will also be in action on the 18th as they wrap up the regular season hosting the Chanhassen Storm at 7 PM.  

An Era Ending for Jefferson Football

 Thursday night, when the Apple Valley Eagles battle the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars, it will mark the end of an era since it will be the final regular season home game for the Jaguars at Bloomington Stadium.  

But it might not be the last game yet for Jefferson because they could host one and possibly two section games.  

The stadium, on the site of the former Lincoln High School, which shut down in 1982 is also home to the Bloomington Kennedy Eagles.  Home soccer games are also played at the stadium.  

Both Jefferson and Kennedy will play their home games next season at their respective campuses.  In a conversation with a representative from Kennedy, there are plans for two sides of bleachers at Jefferson and one at Kennedy.  

The main reason why both schools will be playing on campus next season is that Bloomington Stadium is too costly too repair.  It's also one of the few remaining football and soccer stadiums that utilizes natural grass.  Many schools, including St. Louis Park have gone to turf fields.  

Since Jefferson opened in 1970, Bloomington Stadium has been the hub of high school football and soccer as all three schools played their home games.  It wasn't common to have doubleheaders on a Friday.  Back then, the first game was played at 3 PM.  Then the second game began around 7:30 PM.  Later in the decade, there were evening twin bills, with the first game starting at 6 PM and the nightcap at 8:30 PM.  

Bloomington Stadium wasn't just home to high school football and soccer.  When Normandale Community College had athletic teams, the football team, under the leadership of Fred Moyer, played their home games across from the Penn Lake Library.  For years, the Bloomington Athletic Association had their version of the Prep Bowl as the division championship games were played at the stadium.  Bloomington Stadium was also home to the largest single day track and field meet Track-O-Rama.  

As the curtain rings down on Bloomington Stadium,  we can look back at packed houses the nights of Homecoming and the rivalry games between the Bloomington schools.  The sounds of fans and marching bands.  The era will end for the venue on the corner of 88th St. and Queen Ave. S., but the memories of fans who have gone through the gates in its lifespan will live on.  

Cretin-Derham Hall-SLP Orioles Football Preview

 Get ready for Homecoming football as the St. Louis Park Orioles try to get back on the winning track hosting the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders Friday night.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.  The Raiders, who have played in 23 state tournaments have struggled this season under head coach, a CDH alum, Steve Walsh.  The Raiders have lost five straight games since opening the 2023 campaign with a 35-0 shutout of the Tartan Titans.  Last Friday, CDH fell to the Mahtomedi Zephyrs 34-18.  It was another outstanding game for Mahtomedi running back Alec Mahoney who roughed up the Raider defense with 241 rushing yards and five trips to the end zone.  CDH runs a pass oriented offense gaining 157 yards but their rushing game was MIA with only 17 total yards.  

The key to the game for the Raiders is to establish a running game and play solid defense.  

The Orioles enter their Homecoming game with an identical 1-5 record, coming off a 31-28 defeat against the Tartan Titans last Saturday.  A couple of bright spots from the game were quarterback Josh Rickord completing 15 of 32 passes for 220 yards, including two touchdown passes.  However, he threw three interceptions.  Mason Helfmann ran 16 times for 83 yards and got a touchdown.  He also caught three passes for 50 yards.  On defense, Henry Schrader record eight tackles.  

The key to the game for St. Louis Park is for Rickord to continue to spread the ball among his receiving corps.  He threw completions to eight players last week.  

The weather picture looks pretty gloomy the next three days with rain in the forecast so bring an umbrella if you plan to attend.  Be sure to get there early since it may be a packed house unless the rain keeps the fans away.  Game time is 7 PM.  

SLP Orioles-Tartan Titans Football Preview

 If you're looking for something to do Saturday afternoon before the Twins face the Astros in Game One of the American League Divisional Series and the Minnesota Gophers hosting the Michigan Wolverines in Big Ten Football, head over to Oakdale to see the St. Louis Park Orioles battle the Tartan Titans.  

Both teams enter the sixth week of the regular season with identical 1-4 records.  

It took two nights due to a heavy thunderstorm that pelted the St. Louis Park area and it resulted in the Orioles falling to the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars 17-7.  Jefferson was led by running back Jonathan Weber who had 18 carries for 82 yards and reached the end zone twice.  On defense, Jefferson was led by Evan Feller with 12 tackles and Cormac Radford intercepted Oriole quarterback Josh Rickord and helped the Jaguars get good field position for their second touchdown.  And speaking of Rickord, his nights were dismal as the falling rain, completing nine of 21 passes for 48 yards.  Mason Helfmann was the bright spot on offense with 21 carries for 55 yards.  he needs 39 yards to gain 500 for the season.  The St. Louis Park defense was led by Henry Schrasder with 13 tackles.  

The key to the game for the Orioles is for Rickord to get good line protection that would enable him to throw more balls downfield.  

Looking at the Titans, last week they were trounced by the Mahtomedi Zephyrs 55-7.  The game was decided in the first quarter when the Zephyrs scored 28 points, including three touchdowns from Alec Mahoney.  He finished the game with 133 yards on eight carries and his backfield mate Jacob Reubish ran 15 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns as Mahtomedi racked up 453 rushing yards.  Tartan's only win was on September 8, a 6-0 victory over St. Paul Highland Park.  Tartan has been outscored in their four defeats 182-22.  

The key to the game for the Titans is to get focused and to shut down the Oriole running game.

Saturday's weather picture is going to be chilly with the high temperature in the upper 40s.  Budle up if you plan to head to Oakdale.  Game time is 2 PM.  

One Goal is All St. Paul Central Needs to Beat SLP Orioles

 The rain was coming down rapidly Tuesday night but it didn't stop Tommy Voshell to score the game winning goal with 24:13 left to play as the St. Paul Central Minutemen beat the St. Louis Park Orioles in their regular season home finale 1-0.

Neither team would tally in the first half though Wesley smith made an outstanding save for the Orioles to keep the first half scoreless.  The lone goal of the game came for the Minutemen in the second half when Eli Moseman sent the ball upfield and Voshell, positioned near the crease sent the ball past Smith.  

Central improved their record to 8-5-1 and will conclude their regular season on Friday, October 6 against the St. Paul Highland Park Scots at 7:30 PM at Allianz Field.  The Orioles fell to 3-7-1 and will head to long Lake on Thursday, October 5 to face the Orono Spartans at 7 PM at Pesonen Stadium.