Orioles Get Blasted in Conference Football Opener

started its conference football season with a thud on Friday night, falling to Irondale 36-0 on the road.

The Knights (2-0 overall, 2-0 in North Suburban Conference) jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and didn't look back. They held the Orioles (1-1, 0-1) to just 202 total yards, and forced two Park turnovers.

The first Oriole turnover came on a fumble on the first play of the game, setting Irondale up at the Park 25 yard line.

Irondale continued to dominate the clock—and the game—with a bruising rushing attack. The Knights ran the ball 36 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Irondale only attempted six passes all night as the runners marched down the field.

"Irondale is a quality football team that has both size and speed that controlled both lines of scrimmage and out-executed us on both sides of the ball," St. Louis Park coach Vince Varpness said.  

Park junior Quinn Livdahl was decent in his second career start at QB, going 12 of 24 for 155 yards and one interception. On defense, Grant Donald made eight tackles and Marshall Cullen recorded an interception.

Varpness said it was a particularly frustrating performance because he felt his team had a good week of practice.

"(We) couldn't execute on game day," he said. "We need to have another good week of practice and be able to carry it over into the game for us to be successful this week.

The Orioles get Spring Lake Park at home next Friday.