The Stanley-Boyd football team – version 2020 – was an exciting one to watch Friday night, as the Orioles rolled over a rebuilding Fall Creek team, 65-6, at Oriole Park.

The fast S-B team overmatched the Crickets, which are learning under new head coach Tyler Mickelson.

The Orioles showed a lot on both sides of the ball, and fans were impressed with junior kicker Mike Karlen who’s rewriting the record books already. He set a new Oriole record with a 46-yard field goal and hit three field goals on the night to tie the school mark.

“The boys played well. I think we’re a long way from where we want to be, but it was a good start. Fall Creek has a new coach and they’re rebuilding their program. With everything else going on right now, that’s tough to do,” said Stanley-Boyd Coach Jeff Koenig. “We took some advantage of some opportunities and left some opportunities on the field” “We’re a year older and a lot of guys that played as sophomores and juniors are stronger and faster. I was happy with the pursuit of our defense and our gang tackling. We have a lot to work on too. We have to keep our feet moving at keep or pad level low. When we play better teams, we’re going to have to clean things up. I think overall though the team will stay focused and keep working hard,” said Koenig.

Karlen has worked hard in the off-season and is one of the state’s premiere kickers. He had field goals of 44, 32 and 46 yards to provide the excitement at Oriole Park that was missing from the limited attendance due to COVID-19.

Koenig said there aren’t good historical football records going back to the early years.

“It was a pretty impressive night, with the field goals and the kicking in general,” he said. “it’s nice to see. He works hard at it, and it definitely changes the mind set offensively when you have that available.”

Fall Creek ironically scored first, with its only touchdown of the game on an interception return for 70 yards just two minutes into the game.

It was all orioles from that point. Karlen knocked through two first quarter field goals and ran for a two-yard touchdown. In the second quarter, Cooper Nichols ran for a TD, and scored on a 67-yard pass from quarterback Carsen Hause. Nichols, Karlen and Brady Potaczek all had rushing touchdowns before the half, and the Orioles were up 48-6 at the intermission.

Jake Nesterick ran for a 53yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Logan Burzynski had a 31-yard touchdown pass to Landon Karlen fro the final Oriole score.

The Orioles host Neillsville/Granton Friday night.

“The beat us last year,” said Koenig. “They have a lot of size. They have some good speed. It’s going to be a good challenge.”