Previewing Friday's Football Showdown of SLPs

 It's The Battle of the SLPs this coming Friday night as the St. Louis Park Orioles open a two game road trip that starts with a trip up Highway 65 to take on the Spring Lake Park Panthers.  

Last Friday, it was another rough and rocky road for St. Louis Park as the Orioles fell to 0-3 with a 41-20 loss to the Cooper Hawks.  The Oriole offense was as cold as the weather that night, trailing 14-0 after the first quarter and down 27-7 at the half.  The Brothers Dvorak collaborated on the lone first half touchdown with Will firing a 25 yard pass to his brother McCabe.  The offensive highlight of the night came in the fourth quarter when Will Dvorak threw the ball down the left side of the field and Austin Amelse hauled in an 80 yard touchdown pass.  As for Cooper, Camden Royal ran for two touchdowns and Kahlil Borden ran a punt return into the end zone.  

The Panthers got off to a rough start in two ways.  First, their game against the Armstrong Falcons was cancelled due to COVID-19 but they were still in action against one of the state's top programs, the Becker Bulldogs, under the veteran leadership of Dwight Lundeen.  And second, they were beaten by the Bulldogs 20-13.  Carter Callahan reached the end zone three times for Becker.  Since the Becker beating, Spring Lake Park posted two straight shutouts, Irondale 28-0 and last week 34-0 over the Coon Rapids Cardinals.  Aaron Payne would be a pain for the Cardinal defense, running for 94 yards and scoring two touchdowns.  Nick Wetzel recorded nine tackles for the Panthers and Joey Sorenson had 10.  

The keys to the game for St. Louis Park are to slow down the Spring Lake Park offense.  They run the ball often and it showed last week against Coon Rapids with 119 yards.  Will Dvorak has to find a way to beat the Panther defense and to spread the ball around his receivers.  

The keys to the game for Spring Lake Park are to continue their outstanding running game and to put defensive pressure on the Orioles.  Can they extend their unanswered point streak past 62 over two games?  

There's good news for Friday's weather picture.  It will be warmer than last Friday night.  As usual, game time is 7 PM.  

Cooper Hawks Clobber SLP Orioles

 Camden Royal played like a king Friday night, scoring two touchdowns to lead the Cooper Hawks to a 41-20 win over the host St. Louis Park Orioles.  

The Hawks reached the end zone twice in the first quarter.  Terrence Matthews opened the scoring with a three yard touchdown run.  Royal scored his first touchdown as he ran left for an 11 yard run and Cooper led 14-0.  

There would be no shutout on this chilly Friday night when Will Dvorak threw a 25 yard completion to his brother McCabe and the Orioles trimmed the lead to 14-7.  But Cooper would reach the end zone once again on Kahlil Borden's 35 yard punt return and the lead would climb back to 14.  The Hawks concluded the first half scoring on Joseph Russell's six yard touchdown pass with :29.3 left in the first half and Cooper led 28-8 at halftime.  

Cooper would add two more touchdowns to their ledger in the third quarter as Royal reached the end zone a second time, this time from 14 yards.  Just as the stadium clock hit :00.0, Joseph Russell completed a 46 yard pass to DaNari Connors and the lead would increase to 41-7.

Would there be running time in the fourth quarter?  Not if the Orioles got the seven off their portion of the scoreboard.  They would as Will Dvorak hurled a deep pass to Austin Amelse and he scored on a 79 yard completion.  Even the reserves would get action with the game decided.  One of them, sophomore quarterback Zach Helfmann would wrap up the scoring on a two yard keeper run.  

The Hawks improved their record to 2-1 and host the Holy Angels Starts on Friday, October 30 at 7 PM. The Orioles fell to 0-3 and will also return to action on the 30th as they head up Highway 65 to Spring Lake Park to face the Panthers at 7 PM.   

Cooper Hawks-SLP Orioles Football Preview

 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.  

Supermarket Sweep Returns to ABC

For the first time since the original version left ABC in 1967, Supermarket Sweep returns to its original network Sunday, October 18.  

It's the third incarnation of the grocery shopping game show (sometimes listed in TV Guide as Market Sweep) that made it's debut on December 20, 1965 along with Chuck Barris' first show The Dating Game and ended July 14, 1967.  The show's original host was Bill Malone, who was later killed in a car accident after the show's original run ended.  

In 1990, creator Al Howard brought back Supermarket Sweet to the Lifetime network. Hosted by David Ruprecht, the revival brought in new games and new bonuses for contestants in The Big Sweep.  It was a bigger success than ABC's daytime run, airing for a total of 14 years (including reruns) on both Lifetime and PAX (now ION) networks.  Ruprecht brought color to this version, dressed in multicolored sweaters.  

But Ruprecht and his colorful sweaters will not be part of the new ABC prime time version.  The new host will be former Saturday Night Live regular Leslie Jones, who was also in the all female reboot of the classic 1980s movie Ghostbusters.  She becomes the fourth female host of a game show on broadcast TV, joining Elizabeth Banks of Press Your Luck, Jane Lynch of The Weakest Link and Hollywood Game Night and Meredith Viera of the syndicated word game 25 Words or Less.  

The new ABC version will be identical to the long running Lifetime version but likely with bigger money and prizes since it's a prime time show.  But it does have tough competition in its new maiden voyage.  Supermarket Sweep will go up against NBC's ratings hit Sunday Night Football, Game 7 of the National League Championship Series(which preempts the annual Simpsons Halloween tradition Treehouse of Horror.  

Can ABC have another Sunday night game show success?  Find out tonight at 7 PM.  I'll wrap up this post with Ruprecht's traditional closing catch phrase. "Next time you're in a checkout counter and you hear the beep (beep beep) Think of the fun you can have on Supermarket Sweep!"  

Waconia Wildcats Wallop SLP Orioles

 Though there was very little wind on this cold Friday night in St. Louis Park, the Waconia Wildcats were dust in the wind for the host Orioles, thanks to sophomore Maxwell McEnelly's three touchdowns that led the Wildcats to a 49-14 win.  

Both teams would tally in the first quarter.  The Wildcats struck first on a nine yard touchdown pass from Karson Dobmeier to Trevor Stockman that put them ahead following the two point conversion 8-0.  The Orioles cut the lead to one on a 20 yard touchdown pass to Derric Standifer with 1:28 left in the quarter.  

It would be as close as St. Louis Park would get to Waconia heading into the second quarter.  Maxwell McEnelly would reach the end zone twice.  He scored his first touchdown from four yards and on the opening play of the Wildcats next drive, he got the handoff from Dobmeier and headed downfield like the team bus heading down Highway 5 for a 50 yard touchdown.  The Orioles would conclude their scoring on Sandifer's second touchdown, a two yard pass from Will Dvorak.  Waconia would wrap up the first half scoring on a 22 yard touchdown pass from Dobmeier to Sean Johnson, giving them a 28-14 halftime lead.  

Maxwell McEnelly would account for the only third quarter touchdown, scoring from 45 yards.  Waconia led 34-14. 

Another member of the McEnelly Family would enter the scorebook.  Maxwell's brother Samuel as he scored on a one yard touchdown.  The Wildcats almost got a pick six on Alexander Riley's interception of will Dvorak but the pass was ruled incomplete.  When Waconia went back on offense, Riley redeemed himself with a three yard touchdown run with 1:21 left in the game.  

The Wildcats improved their record to 1-1 and will host the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars on Friday, October 23 at 7 PM.  The Orioles fell to 0-2 and also return to action on the 23rd, hosting the Cooper Hawks at 7 PM.  

Waconia Wildcats-SLP Orioles Football Preview

 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.  

SLP Boys Advance to Section 6AA Semifinals and SLP Girls Season Ends

 It was a windy Wednesday night in St. Louis Park as the high school stadium was the site for a couple of Section 6AA soccer quarterfinal games with the boys shutting out the Hopkins Royals 4-0 and the girls, playing on their home field as the visiting team lost to the top seeded Minneapolis Southwest Lakers 1-0.  

First up was the boys quarterfinal game where good things came in pairs for the St. Louis Park Orioles as Alex Ruiz-Shimada and Claudy Zua scored two goals apiece to lead them to a 4-0 victory over the Hopkins Royals.  

The Orioles would strike twice in the first half that started with Zua driving through the center slot and putting the ball past Royal goalkeeper Jonas Swan to put St. Louis Park ahead.  They would add their second goal 2:00 later when Bennett Kouame fed Ruiz-Shimada and he would tally to give the Orioles a 2-0 halftime lead.  

St. Louis Park doubled their first half output in the second half when Ruiz-Shimada put the Orioles ahead by three and Zua would clinch the quarterfinal win 5:00 later.  

The Orioles improved their record to 8-2-2 and advanced to the Section 6AA semifinals against the Minneapolis Washburn Millers on Tuesday, October 20.  Hopkins concluded their season with a 3-8-1 record.  

The top seeded team in the Section 6AA girls tournament the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers were the home team at the St. Louis Park stadium in order to let fans attend and they would go home happy when they saw Stella Thiebert score the game's only with 24:44 left in regulation time to lead Southwest to a 1-0 win over the St. Louis Park Orioles.

Neither team would erase the zeros from the scoreboard in the first half.  Could the eighth seeded Orioles pull off the upset in the second half?  Not on their home field as Sophia Romero on a goal kick had it block by Thiebert and she would score the game's lone goal as the Southwest defense prevented St. Louis Park from sending the game into overtime.  

The Lakers improved their record to 10-1-1 and will face the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders in the Section 6AA semifinals on Tuesday, October 20.  Nine of Southwest's ten wins came via shutout.  The Lakers in their season opener against Minnehaha Academy beat the Redhawks 5-2. 

The Orioles ended their season with a 1-9-2 record.