Armstrong Falcons Advance to Section 5AAAAA Final

 Saturday afternoon was sunny for the Armstrong Falcons as Reggie Carter scored four touchdowns and Marquan Tucker and Kevon Johnson reached the end zone twice to lead them to a 62-31 rout of the St. Louis Park Orioles in Plymouth.  

It was the Orioles who took the early lead as Zach Helfmann, moved to quarterback by head coach Jason Foster, fired a 74 yard touchdown pass to Stefano Giovannelli.  The Falcons would tie the game when Jamen Malone thrown a deep end zone pass to Tucker and he would grab it from 32 yards.  Armstrong would get the ball back after an interception by Nick Brandner and Carter would score from one yard to put the Falcons ahead.  The Zach Helfmann-Giovannelli tandem would strike again, this time on an 81 yard touchdown pass.  Armstrong would be armed with offensive weapons who would score the next two touchdowns.  The first would come on Carter's 66 yard tun down the right sideline and Tucker would haul in a 40 yard pass from Malone that put the Falcons ahead 27-14.  

Armstrong would make two more trips to the end zone in the second quarter on a couple of three yard runs.  The first would come on Malone's keeper and the second on Carter's third touchdown with :58 left in the first half that bolstered the Falcons lead to 41-27.  

There would be some good news for Orioles fans in the second half thanks to the defensive play of Henry Bendickson.  He would intercept Malone's pass and send the ball across the goal line.  On the next possession, the Falcons began their drive at the Oriole 10 yard line and Carter would score his fourth touchdown, this one from seven yards.  Another aspect that would prevail for St. Louis Park would be special teams.  On the Armstrong kickoff, Mason Amelse would drive down the right sideline like traffic on Highway 169 and enter the end zone.  Johnson would wrap up the third quarter scoring for the Falcons with an 11 yard touchdown run and Armstrong led 55-25 at the end of the third quarter.  

The Falcons would send the game into running time in the fourth quarter as Johnson broke through the line and score a 60 yard touchdown.  As time ticked away on the Orioles season, they would end the game when Zach Helfmann bobbled the center snap, recovered the ball and scored from one yard.  

Armstrong improved their record to 7-2 and will host their district rival the Cooper Hawks on Friday, November 4 at 7 PM.  Cooper beat Minneapolis Washburn in the other semifinal game 44-20.  St. Louis Park ended their season with a record of 3-7.