Park football won their first sectional game on Tuesday night against the Southwest Lakers. The Orioles shut out their opponents in the triumphant performance, 49-0.

      Park head coach Ben Wolfe said he thinks the team can prove they can play even better in upcoming sectional games.

     “I think we still have our best days ahead of us. I think that [the southwest game] was a good confidence booster and I hope we can build on that and win some more games as we move on,” Wolfe said.

     According to Wolfe, a lot of factors contributed to the team’s success in the first sectional game.

     “We had three interceptions which was really nice. We had a lot of guys flying around to the ball and being aggressive and making a lot of plays,” Wolfe said.

      Junior Skyler Rudelius-Palmer, a kicker and cornerback, watched the game from the sidelines after injuring himself injuring himself in the win against Park Center. He said he thought the key to the team’s success was its consistency in playing all four quarters.

      “The team played outstanding four-quarter football. It was really great because we kept our heads on straight, had fun, and kept them to zero points while scoring,” Rudelius-Palmer said.

      Wolfe also said the dominating performance boiled down to their combination of a great running game and stellar defense.

      “The running game was huge for us. We’re able to control the line of scrimmage and open up some big holes for all of our ball carriers and that set us up for a lot of scores. It was definitely a combination of a great defensive game and a really strong rushing game,” Wolfe said.

      In addition, Rudelius-Palmer said the defense played a big role in Tuesday night’s win in shutting out Southwest’s offense. Rudelius-Palmer said he credits the defense’s ability to pressure the quarterback to force bad decisions.

      “Our defensive strategy worked really well where we could bring the pressure from the line and forced them to keep throwing to our corners who were in the right position to make plays,” Rudelius-Palmer said.

      Rudelius-Palmer also said the team’s performance had improved from its regular season play to use a more unselfish style of play that worked to win together as a team.

      “We improved in the way that everyone did their own job and trusted the guy next to them to do theirs,” Rudelius-Palmer said.

      Park plays Spring Lake Park at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Spring Lake Park High School.