I’m really excited that we’re going to state.”

Olivia Czarnota

The first two games were relatively easy, 34-0 over North St. Paul and 33-0 over East Ridge. The third was tougher, as the rain and wind picked up and facing a talented Hastings team. But the Park Wolfpack was ready for the challenge on a soggy Sunday evening at Tartan High School.

Park (9-1) downed Hastings 26-18 in the section finals to return to the flag football state tournament for the second year in a row and according to the Wolfpack players, they’re not done winning yet.

It was Park’s third straight win over the Hastings Raiders this season and all were close, 27-25 on April 26, 26-20 on May 17 and then 26-18 in the section championship.

“I thought we executed a lot better than we have,” said Park head coach Scott Leonard. “I think we kind of locked back in and realized now was the time to focus.

“They can get back to the final four, I don’t see why not,” Leonard continued.

The 2026 Minnesota high school girls flag football tournament will be played at TCO Stadium on Monday, June 8, with 10 teams participating. All first round, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played the same day, meaning a team has to win four straight to capture the crown. Monday’s first round games will be played at noon and 2:15 p.m.

The Wolfpack will look to equal or better last season’s performance at state. Park won its first two games at state in 2025, beating Sartell 38-6 and Minnetonka 40-25 in the semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Mahtomedi.

Park senior quarterback Alayna Adamez had herself a day. In the three games she completed 27 of 39 passes for 416 yards and 12 touchdowns. She also ran 11 times for an additional 109 yards.

Sunday’s win capped quite a week for Adamez as her home run hitting prowess and catching skills helped power the Park softball team to this week’s state tournament. She goes into the state flag football tournament with 40 passing touchdowns, ranking seventh overall in Minnesota.

Maleah McMorrow led the receiving corps with 16 catches for 262 yards and scored seven touchdowns in the three games. On the season, McMorrow has 58 receptions, which ranks sixth overall in the state.

“I think every game before this we’ve been playing like one game either the offense was good, or the defense was good, but I feel like this game every play, every drive we put 100 percent in,” said McMorrow. “We had no mental mistakes. We knew all our plays. We broke down on defense; it was just a good game overall.

“State championship obviously,” said McMorrow asked the team goal now. “We got blown out in the semifinals last year. We want those oak leaves. We want to go to the state championship.”

Defensively, the Wolfpack spread the honors around, but Olivia Czarnota had two interceptions, and Aliyah Jarmon had four flag pulls and a game-clinching interception. Abby Schnitzer ran one interception for a score against East Ridge. Schmitzer has 8 interceptions this season ranking 13th overall.

“I’m really excited that we’re going to state,” said Czarnota. “I think we really just honed in on all of the stuff that we’ve been working on. I think our defense was immaculate. Our offense really capitalized.”

Against Hastings Adamez was 10-of-17 for 173 yards and four touchdowns and two extra points.

She also ran five times for 37 yards. Mo Brinkman had two carries for 21 yards.

Maleah McMorrow had six catches for 96 yards and scored three touchdowns. Graycie Smith was 2 for 39 for a touchdown and two extra points.

On defense, Aliyah Jarmon had four flag pulls and a clutch interception that sealed the Hastings win. Olivia Czarnota had one flag pull and one interception.