Going in, eighth-ranked Centennial seemed a formidable first-round section matchup for unranked Park.

And indeed, that eventually proved to be the case as the Centennial Cougars rallied to escape an upset bid by visiting Park, winning 41-24 at Circle Pines Friday evening.

But the Cougars knew they were in for a ballgame.

“I don’t think too many people on the other side of the stands thought we would come out like we did, and we really gave them everything that they could handle,” said Park head coach Rick Fryklund. “Obviously, I wish a couple bounces went differently. I felt like we had some chances in the first half to maybe get off the field a little bit more on defense. But that’s a really good football team. So, when you don’t do those little things just like I’ve told you before that will come back to bite you in the butt. But the kids played really, really hard and I’m proud of them.”

Centennial (7-2) advances in the 6A tournament and a date against Edina (4-5) in the second round. Park ends its season with a deceptive 3-6 record. The Wolfpack were better than their final record would indicate, but losses to No. 6 Lakeville South, No. 7 Prior Lake, No. 8 Centennial and No. 10 Woodbury distorted the mark.

Like Park, Centennial was no stranger in playing top teams this season. Centennial’s only losses this fall came to No. 3 Stillwater (29-28) and No. 1 Maple Grove (2417). The Cougars edged No. 10 Woodbury 17-14 in their last regular-season contest.

But if Centennial fans were expecting a rollover by their team, they were in for a shock.

“It was a tough loss, but we played hard the whole game,” said Park senior linebacker and co-captain Owen Rose. “Our defense came out right from the beginning, played hard and played physical like we know we can. We had a great week of practice that translated onto the field and we just played well on offense and defense.

“I don’t think they (the Cougars) expected us to come out of the gate like we did,” Rose continued.

Centennial scored first. Then Park went to work.

The Wolfpack scored twice in the first quarter to take a surprising 14-13 lead. Park senior quarterback Sam Berrey connected with a streaking senior wide out OT Omot for a spectacular 78-yard touchdown to open the scoring for the Wolfpack.

Wolfpack senior running back DJ Brown Jr. did that one better with a 97-yard touchdown run to end the opening quarter with a bang. Ninth grader Matthew Kamande kicked the PAT and just like that Park had a 14-7 lead to end the first quarter.

To say the Centennial faithful were stunned at that juncture would be an understatement.

Centennial dominated the second period with two scores to take a 28-17 halftime lead. Kamande made a 27-yard field goal with 17 second left in the half to trim Centennial’s lead a bit.

The Cougars stretched they lead to 35-17 in the third and then 41-17 in the fourth before Park tacked on the game’s final touchdown on a 10-yard run by senior running back Brown Jr.

Brown Jr. ended his Park career with a bang, rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

Quarterback Berrey also played well, completing 13 of 23 passes for 264 yards, a touchdown and one interception. Omot caught four passes for 143 yards and a score. Junior defensive back Brett Salmonson had nine tackles and seven assists to pace the Park defense. Senior linebacker Owen Rose had eight solo tackles, five assists and a tackle for loss. Senior linebacker Alex Carr had seven solo stops and eight assists. Chris Kujawa had seven tackles and three assists. J. Nickle had three solo stops, five assists and a tackle for loss.

“The game just didn’t go how we wanted,” said Carr. “I’m very proud of my team, though. Every single day we went in and we worked hard every day. A highlight was just being with my team every day. All the team dinners. It’s not even just the game, it’s just the little stuff that we do.”

The team stats were close to even. Centennial gained 459 total yard to 427 for Park. Park had 264 yards passing and 163 yards rushing. Centennial did most of its offensive damage on the ground, rushing for 381 yards.

Asked to reflect on the season, Fryklund offered the obvious.

“You know, 6A football is no joke, I tell you that much,” Fryklund said. “With the schedule that we play there’s some really good football teams obviously and you can see the size, physically of some of these guys, does not match up to the size physically of some of the other teams that we play. But I put the size and fight of my kids in their hearts against anyone.”

This season Park went 3-5 against a slate that included No. 4 Lakeville South, No. 10 Woodbury, No. 7 Prior Lake and No. 5 Centennial.

Last year the Wolfpack went 4-5 against a schedule including four top-10 teams: No. 4 Lakeville South, No. 7 Prior Lake and No. 8 Shakopee and No. 10 Woodbury

Junior Taran Blasy of the Wolfpack looks for more yards as he struggles to get free early in the fourth quarter. Photo by John Molene

Senior running back DJ Brown Jr. of Park scores the game’s final touchdown against Centennial. Brown rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns in his final game for the Wolfpack. Photo by John Molene

Park’s David Ola-Kazeem (5) runs interference for teammate OT Omot after a second-quarter reception against Centennial Friday. Photo by John Molene