Armstrong Falcons End SLP Orioles Season

Armstrong quarterback James Malone overcame a slow start after four first half interceptions with five touchdown passes, including two to Eustace McGowan that led the Falcons to a 36-25 win over the St. Louis Park Orioles Saturday afternoon in the Section 5AAAAA football semifinals in Plymouth.  

The Oriole defense was strong in the early going, intercepting Malone four times but they could only cash in once on Nick Kent's 15 yard goal to put St. Louis Park ahead 3-0.  The Falcons would take the lead on Malone's 51 yard strike to Peyton Newburn with 1:11 left in the first quarter to give them a 7-3 lead.  

Armstrong would widen their lead in the second quarter as Malone would throw three touchdown passes.  The first was a 24 yard completion to Kayden College that followed a 47 yard run by Ernest Evans and he added another 10 prior to the touchdown.  Malone would find McGowan in the end zone twice.  The first came on a  40 yard pass and the second a six yard strike that came after the Falcons were moved back 10 yards due to a holding penalty.  Armstrong led 29-3 at the half.  

St. Louis Park would inch closer to Armstrong in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns, followed by two point conversions.  The first was a one yard run from Deontez Ross Jr.  The second featured the familiar combination of Will Dvorak and Stefano Giovannelli as Dvorak fired a 21 yard pass to Giovannelli to cut the Falcon lead to 29-16. 

The Dvorak-Giovannelli  duo would strike again inn the fourth quarter, this time on a 32 yard pass and the lead was cut to 29-26.  But the Orioles couldn't catch the Falcons as Malone threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game, a 30 yard completion to Marquan Tucker to wrap up the scoring.  

The Falcons improved their record to 6-3 and will face their district rival, the Cooper Hawks for the Section 5AAAAA title on Friday, November 5 at 7 PM in New Hope.  The Orioles concluded their season with a 5-4 record.  

2021 Section 5AAAAA Football Preview

 The road to the 2021 State Football Tournament will likely go through the Robbinsdale school district as the Cooper Hawks and the Armstrong Falcons are the top two seeds in Section 5AAAAA.  Here's a preview of the five team section.  

Two Minneapolis City Conference rivals will battle in the lone game on Tuesday, October 26 as the fifth seeded Minneapolis Washburn Millers travel to Southwest to take on the fourth seeded Lakers.  It will be a rematch of the September 23 game where the Lakers routed the Millers 41-7.  Preston Engen threw three touchdown passes, two to Cam Holter and Declan Maida declared victory with two rushing touchdowns.  Southwest overcame a three game losing streak in the season finale with a 19-2 win over the Minneapolis South Tigers.  As for Washburn, it has been a rough road for this long-time Minneapolis football power house that ended a five game run of giving up 40 points or more with a 28-14 win over the Minneapolis Roosevelt Teddies.  Could there be an upset in the making?  

The winner will face the top seeded Cooper Hawks, entering section play with a 6-2 record.  They are on a four game winning streak since losing to the Holy Angels Stars 56-34 on September 24.  The Hawks have an experienced quarterback in Joe Russell, who has thrown 21 touchdown passes, 10 of them to David Connors.  In the backfield, Camden Royal has been the King of the Cooper End Zone, making 14 trips this season and rushing for 1255 yards.  The only game where he has been held under 100 yards was the September 10 game against the Waconia Wildcats, rushing for only 73 yards.  Could there be a celebration in New Hope November 5?  

Concluding the Section 5AAAAA bracket is the third seeded St. Louis Park Orioles and the second seeded Armstrong Falcons.  In the regular season finale against the unbeaten Chaska Hawks, the Orioles came close and fell to the Hawks 21-14.  The combination of quarterback Will Dvorak and wide receiver Stefano Giovannelli have helped St. Louis Park has a successful second season under head coach Jason Foster with a record of 5-3.  Ten of Dvorak's 13 touchdown passes have gone to Giovannelli, including the eventual game winner against the Waconia Wildcats October 14.  The second seeded Falcons enter section play with an identical 5-3 record.  After a three game winning streak where they put 40 points or more on their end of the scoreboard, Armstrong has lost two straight games.  They lost to Chaska and Spring Lake Park.  Jamen Malone has anchored the Falcon offense, passing for 17 touchdowns.  Seven of them were to Peyton Newbern, son of former Gopher men's basketball player Melvin Newburn.  Jordan McClorn has been a bright spot in the Falcon defense, recording four interceptions.  It should be an interesting matchup to find out who will play in the November 5 section final.  

There's plenty of outstanding section football coming up and it all begins this coming Tuesday.  

SLP Orioles to Wrap Up Regular Season in Chaska

 The final week of the Minnesota high school football regular season has the St. Louis Park Orioles heading down Highway 212 to Chaska to battle the Hawks.  

If you left last Friday's St. Louis Park-Waconia game early, you made a big mistake as the Orioles came back from a 21-0 deficit to score 29 fourth quarter points to beat the Wildcats 29-28.  Will Dvorak threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Stefano Giovannelli that led to the eventual game winner with :04.2 left in regulation time and Deontez Ross Jr. made the two point conversion to comp-lete the miraculous comeback. Defense also was a factor for the Orioles as Zach Helfmann recorded nine tackles and an interception.   Looking at St. Louis Park's section, 5AAAAA, it resembles a late season baseball pennant race with Armstrong, Cooper, Minneapolis Southwest and St. Louis Park battling for the top seed.  Minneapolis Washburn, the fifth team in the section is a lock as the fifth seed.  

As for the unbeaten Chaska Hawks, they beat the Armstrong Falcons last week 17-6.  The Hawks are led by running back Jack Boyle who is 39 yards short of 1000 yards.  His season high was 251 in the season opener against the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars.  Chaska has a powerful ground game, piling up 256 yards last Friday against the Falcons.  Going into the season finals, they have average 246 rushing yards per game.  On defense, Myles Meiller had two interceptions last week, his first of the season.  

The key to the game for the Orioles is to build on the momentum of last week's win but not get overconfident because they are playing a very tough Chaska team.  The Dvorak-Giovannelli combination will need to beat The Brothers Dietel on defense, Jacob and Dominic.  

The key to the game for Chaska is for the running game to wear down the St. Louis Park defense.  They have to get to Boyle who has been their main offensive cog in 2021.  

It will likely be a wet weather picture for Wednesday with rain in the forecast.  So if you plan on making the trip to support the Orioles in their regular season finale, you might want to bring an umbrella.  Game time is 7 PM.  

Five Reasons Why the 1980 Version of To Tell the Truth Failed

In 1980, the classic panel game show To Tell the Truth returned to syndicated TV after the last incarnation ended production after a nine year run.  But its run was much shorter than the original version hosted by Bud Collyer and the five day a week syndicated version that was hosted by Garry Moore and later Joe Garagiola.  

So why did the 1980 To Tell the Truth revival fail?  Here are five reasons why. 

1.  It came back too soon.  When this version of To Tell the Truth came back, it was two years after Garagiola signed off for what would be the final time.  The show went into decline after Moore retired due to throat cancer in 1977 and ended the following season.  

2.  No regular panel.  The first two versions of To Tell the Truth were successful due to the chemistry between the regular panelists.  In the Collyer version's heyday, there was Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean and Kitty Carlisle.  Cass and Carlisle would be regulars on the syndicated version along with Bill Cullen, who also filled in for Moore as host occasionally.   The Three Cs of Cass, Cullen and Carlisle made numerous appearances on the 1980 incarnation but they weren't regulars.  Among the semiregulars were Soupy Sales, Nipsey Russell and Pat Collins.  But no regular panelists were signed on and there wasn't any chemistry.  

3.  An inexperienced host.  Who was Robin Ward?  He was an actor from Canada that Mark Goodson hired as the show's new host.  Prior to hosting To Tell the Truth, he was seen on American television in the Muppets special Hey Cinderella and a syndicated science fiction series The Starlost.  Going into To Tell the Truth, he didn't have any hosting experience and it showed early in the run.  In Adam Nedeff's biography of Bill Cullen Quizmaster, Allen Koss mentioned about replacing Jack Barry who died of a heart attack after production for The Joker's Wild ended for the 1983-84 season, "You can't replace an older host with a really, really young host because viewers won't accept him."  Goodson made that mistake. 

4.  This format was too rushed.  On the Moore version, there was time for contestant demonstrations just like the syndicated version of What's My Line. But on the Ward version, there were none, except leading into the closing credits and question rounds were sped up in order for a new feature One on One, which brought back the four imposters from the first two spots.  One of them had a concealed fact that the panel had to figure out.  It would have been better to abandon the One on One feature.  

5.  A saturated syndicated game show market.  When To Tell the Truth debuted in 1980, it joined a crowded syndicated game show lineup.  There were four shows from Jack Barry and Dan Enright, The Joker's Wild, Tic Tac Dough, Bullseye and Play the Percentages.  Two shows still aired once a week, Match Game PM and the $100,000 Name That Tune.  Speaking of Match Game, it was one of two daily syndicated games from Goodson-Todman.  The other was Family Feud, which just expanded from two nights a week to five and became the highest rated syndicated game show.  Also in syndication was The $50,000 Pyramid, which was launched after ABC canceled The $20,000 Pyramid in 1980.  

So that's why the 1980 version of To Tell the Truth failed.  In the Twin Cities, WTCN (now KARE) aired the show at 3 PM before moving the show to 11 AM.  The NBC affiliate aired To Tell the Truth instead of Card Sharks.  Both shows were gone in 1981.  

A Miracle on Lake St.

 If you left the Waconia-St. Louis Park football game early Friday night, you missed a miraculous comeback from the host Orioles who got a game winning touchdown from Stefano Giovannelli with:04.2 left in regulation time that led them to a 29-28 win over the Wildcats.  

The Orioles were hurt by turnovers in the early going, including the first offensive play of the game.  Their second turnover would be costly as Max McEnelly followed up a 35 yard run with a three yard run to put the Wildcats ahead 7-0.  

It looked like St. Louis Park would even the score in the second quarter on Will Dvorak's 75 yard touchdown pass to Giovannelli.  Unfortunately, a holding penalty nullified the score.  Instead, Alex Riley would run left for a 15 yard touchdown and Waconia led 14-0 at halftime.  

McEnelly, who would finish the game with 207 rushing yards, would score his second touchdown, this time from 15 yards and the lead ballooned to 21.  

Going into the fourth quarter, the Orioles had a mountain to climb in order to catch the Wildcats.  The key was Dvorak's four touchdown passes.  The first was a 15 yard strike to Giovannelli, followed by a 21 yard score to Stanley Regguinti.  However, the Wildcats were not done yet.  Riley scored his second touchdown of the game on a one yard run and it would be 28-13 in favor of Waconia.  St. Louis Park got the ball and once again the Dvorak-Giovannelli combination unlocked the Waconia defense for a 24 yard touchdown with :30.7 remaining.  Hold on there.  The game was not over yet.  And why?  Because the Orioles would recover an onside kick and it would pay dividends as Dvorak threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game, the third to Giovannelli for 36 yards with :04.2 left.  Deontez Ross Jr. got the handoff from Dvorak to make the two point conversion and complete a 29 point fourth quarter miracle victory.  

Following the game, HSGN caught up with Dvorak who game his reaction to the game winning pass to Giovannelli.    

"You've got to give him a chance and I did."  

The Orioles improved their record to 5-2 and wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, October 20 at 7 PM as they head down Highway 212 to face the Chaska Hawks.  The Wildcats fell to 3-4 and will also  conclude their season on the 20th, hosting the Holy Angels Stars at 7 PM.  

SLP Orioles Soccer Teams Advance in Section 6AAA Tournament

 It was a chilly Thursday night in St. Louis Park but there was plenty of hot soccer action in the Section 6AAA Soccer Tournament with the Oriole soccer teams hosting quarterfinal action with the girls winning in overtime over the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers 1-0 and the boys flying past the Armstrong Falcons 4-2.  

First up was the girls quarterfinal game and just when you thought the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers and St. Louis Park Orioles were headed for a shootout after close to 100 minutes of game time, Hanna Wilsey scores the game winning goal with 1:43 left in overtime to lead the Orioles to a 1-0 win over the Lakers.  

The game was a defensive battle throughout regulation time and neither team would erase the zeros from the St. Louis Park stadium scoreboard.  So the game headed to the first of two 10:00 overtime periods.  The second one wouldn't be needed because Hanna Wilsey would score from the center slot with 1:43 left in the period to send St. Louis Park into the semifinals.  

The Orioles improved their record to 8-8 and will face the Hopkins Royals on Saturday, October 16 at 1 PM at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka.  The Lakers ended their season with a record of 6-7-3.  

What a night for Luca Guarin.  He would get the hat trick as the St. Louis Park Orioles bounced back from an early deficit to beat the Armstrong Falcons 4-2.  

The Falcons would break out of the starting gate early on William Saar's left side goal :28 into the game.  The Orioles would even the score at one on Bennett Kouame's goal.  

St. Louis Park would break the game open in the second half with a pure hat trick from Guarin.  His first two goals would come off passes from Bennett Kouame, the first 1:01 into the second half.  He would pick up his third goal after Kouame's goal was disallowed due to an offside call.  The goal would come on a penalty kick and the Orioles led 4-1.  But Armstrong would not go away.  The Falcons would cut the deficit to two as Nathan Hunt got a pass from Jonathan Castro and he would put it past St. Louis Park goalkeeper Luis Benitez Matias.  That would also be the final goal of the game.  

The Orioles improved their record to 11-4 and advanced to the semifinals on Saturday, October 16 at 3 PM in Minneapolis as they face the top seeded Southwest Lakers.  The Lakers punched their ticket to the semifinals with their fourth consecutive shutout, a 5-0 win over the Cooper Hawks.  The Falcons end their season with a record of 7-9.  

SLP Orioles-Waconia Wildcats Football Preview

 Week Seven of the high school football season brings the first of two straight battles with Carver County schools for the St. Louis Park Orioles.  

First up is the Orioles home season finale against the Waconia Wildcats.  Last Friday, the Orioles four game winning streak ended in a 49-25 defeat to the Holy Angels Stars.  The St. Louis Park defense was just too much for Holy Angels running back Emmett Johnson as he had 24 carries for 416 yards and scored five touchdowns.  There were some bright spots for the Orioles.  Quarterback Will Dvorak completed 17 of 31 passes for 301 yards and two touchdown passes to his top target Stefano Giovanneli.  Dvorak also rushed 40 yards and ran for a touchdown.  According to mnfootballhub.com, there was no mention of any defensive statistics.  

As for the Wildcats, they were shutout last week by the Chanhassen Storm 27-0.  The Storm defense held the Wildcats leading rusher Max McEnelly to 88 yards on the ground.  It's the second lowest rushing total for the junior running back this season.  On September 24 against the Chaska Hawks, he was held to only 61 rushing yards in a 7-0 loss to the Hawks.  On defense, Gage Mueller recorded 11 tackles.  

The key to the game for the Orioles is for the Dvorak-Giovannelli combination to wear down the Wildcat defense and for the St. Louis Park defense to slow down McEnelly, who is 206 yards short of 1000 yards for the season.  

The key to the game for the Wildcats is for McEnelly to get back on track and the offense line to create opportunities for him to rack up yardage.  

Friday's weather picture is going to be a bit cooler as the night progresses so you might need to bundle up if you plan to attend the game.  As usual, game time is 7 PM.