Two former Lake Blue Conference rivals battle Wednesday night to wrap up the Minnesota high school football regular season as the St. Louis Park Orioles host the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars.
This season marks the 50th year for Jefferson football. The Jaguars inaugural season was 1970 with Bruno Waldner as the team's first head coach. Jefferson and St. Louis Park met on October 21 and the Orioles, under the leadership of head coach Rob Roy, beat the Jaguars 28-8. St. Louis Park's quarterback Brian Glover scored two touchdowns and Blair Wachutka also crossed the goal line. Defense also factored as Dave Carlson intercepted a pass from Jefferson quarterback John Anderson and ran for a touchdown. The Jaguars finished 6-3 in 1970 and there was no section play or state tournament until 1972.
Now back to the present. Last Friday, the Orioles routed the DeLaSalle Islanders 41-0 as snowflakes were flying above the turf field. Though St. Louis Park had a depleted backfield with Sajid Nathim out with a torn ACL and Tobyous Davenport departing the game in the first quarter due to an injury, the running game would get a huge boost from senior Alex Hager as he ran 13 times for 121 yards and made three trips to the end zone. Quarterback Aaron Ellingson threw two touchdown passes to McCabe Dvorak and McCabe's brother Will relieved Ellingson with the game decided in the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring. Freshman Tyree Shorter also got playing time with six carries for 18 yards.
On defense, Christian Artega and Darrell Kemp had nine tackles apiece. The Orioles also recorded three sacks.
Jefferson ended a three game losing streak last Friday with a 12-7 win over the Henry Sibley Warriors. They were down 7-6 in the fourth quarter until Manny Montgomery scored on a two run run with :29 in regulation time. The Jaguars season hasn't been mighty, heading into the regular season's final week with a 2-5 record. Three of their five losses were to powerhouses Benilde-St. Margaret's. Cooper and Chaska.
The keys to the game for St. Louis Park are for the running game to continue its momentum and for the defense to put pressure on Jefferson quarterback Carter Hanson. Jefferson's keys to the game are for the offensive line to create opportunities to run the ball and for Hanson to get into a good passing rhythm.
The good news is that the weather will be warmer than last Friday with Wednesday's high around 50. But bundle up if it gets chilly late in the game. Game time is 7 PM.
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