Friday night will be the final road game of the regular season for the St. Louis Park Orioles as they head down Highway 5 to take on the first of two straight Carver County opponents, the Waconia Wildcats.
Last week's Homecoming game wasn't a happy one for the Orioles as they fell to the Holy Angels Stars 34-8 to bring their record to 2-4. St. Louis Park was minus their starting quarterback Declan Gaines who was sidelined due to a concussion. So who would step in to run the Oriole offense? The answer, Stefano Giovannelli. Giovannelli's inexperience at quarterback showed through most of the game as he completed five of 16 passes for 56 yards and was intercepted twice. But there were a couple of bright spots for the Oriole senior. He ran 13 times for 79 yards and threw a 10 yard touchdown pass to Teddy Dahlin. On defense, Tony Kruse recorded nine tackles and Mason Amelse had seven plus the game's lone interception.
The keys to the game for St. Louis Park: Will Gaines return at quarterback? If not, will Giovannelli get another chance to prove himself as the Orioles signal caller? Also, the defense needs to slow down the high powered Waconia offense.
That leads to a look at the Wildcats, who came up shot last Friday against their Carver County rival, the Chanhassen Storm 37-35. You'll need only two words to describe the Waconia offense, Max McEnelly. He made three trips to the end zone against the Storm and ran for 175 yards, giving him 1,137 yards this season along with 17 touchdowns. McEnelly will head to Minnesota next season and join the wrestling team. Come on PJ Fleck. You've got to get him out for football in 2023, you could use him next season when Mo Ibrahim graduates. On defense, McEnelly also excels, recording eight tackles. BBrayden Kaczmarek led the Wildcat defense with 10 tackles and Tate McDonald had an interception.
The keys to the game for Waconia are for McEnelly to have another stellar game and wear down the St. Louis Park defense and the Wildcat defense has got to slow down whover is calling the signals.
The weather picture is going to be a chilly one on Friday, with temperatures in the 40s. If you plan to make the trip to Waconia, bring your winter coat as well as a blanket. Game time is 7 PM.
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