We showed that we are a completely different team this year. We’re changing, the mentality of the team is different, it’s just a different climate.”

Wolfpack lineman Jesse Wright

Park battled host White Bear Lake toe-to-toe on offense, defense and special teams Thursday in the season opener.

But the Bears won the turnover and penalties battle and as a result claimed a hard-fought 28-14 victory.

The Wolfpack just made too many mistakes to earn the win. Park had four turnovers to two for the Bears, a couple at crucial times, and committed 134 yards in penalties to just 15 for the hosts.

“That we can compete with way more teams than people probably expected us to,” said head coach Rick Fryklund when asked what he hopes the Wolfpack will take away from this game. “I guarantee you that no fan that came on the other side expected the football game that we found ourselves in. You know, football as they say is the proverbial game of inches and it felt like we had some opportunities of inches that we just didn’t quite make on offense or defense or special teams.

“But the fun past is seeing that we are that close, that we are inches away from being even more successful than we are,” Fryklund said. “It’s hard to win a football game with four turnovers. I know that stat doesn’t bode very well. One other item I’d say I loved about is that even at the end when there was an extremely low likelihood of something happening and our kids, we fought to those final seconds. Like we were not going to quit. We were not going to give up. And that says something about the character of this team.”

The two teams battled to a 14-all tie after two quarters, but two crucial mistakes near the end of the third quarter doomed Park’s chances. First an apparent long touchdown by the Wolfpack was called back because of a penalty. Then, White Bear Lake forced a turnover and took it in for what proved to be an insurmountable two touchdown lead. White Bear Lake led 28-14 after three periods.

“I feel like the next week we’ve got to work on being disciplined, the o-line and the receivers, we all jumped offsides a little bit,” said receiver/defensive back Kaleb Miftah. “The receivers have got to watch the ball and the lineman have got to know the cadence so we can have no penalties.”

A 54-yard fumble return by the Bears in the third quarter finally proved to be too much for Park to overcome.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, although Park was knocking on the goal line door at the very end of the game as time expired.

It was a frustrating game in some ways for the Wolfpack but also one in which the team showed promise and potential.

“I see a lot of potential,” said Park junior lineman Kellen Simmons. “I see little mistakes that mess us up but we can bounce back next week. It will be a good game against Stillwater.”

“We showed we can give a show and that we can compete with some of these teams that last year we couldn’t,” agreed Wolfpack lineman Jesse Wright. “We showed that we are a completely different team this year. We’re changing, the mentality of the team is different, it’s just a different climate.”

Park outgained White Bear Lake 283 to 258 total yards and had a slight edge in both rushing and passing yards.
Junior quarterback Esten Erickson completed 13 of 23 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown, with one interception.

“I think for sure we communicated really well,” said Park senior Tanner Zitzow. “And especially on pass plays I think we blocked really well, and we gave him enough time to do what he needed to do. That’s a big learning experience and we’ll bounce back easily.”

No less than nine Park runners carried the ball on offense with senior to-it-all back Matthew Kamande gaining 46 yards on four carries, mainly thanks to one 43-yard run. Kody Aikens carried nine times for 40 yards and a score.

Kamande had a big night receiving, with eight receptions for 81 yards, including a 35-year reception, but also fumbled twice after catches. He also had one kickoff return for 21 yards giving 137 yards in total offense for the game. Kamande took the loss particularly hard and had to be consoled by more than one Park coach after the game.

Senior linebacker Lance Hayes led Park’s defense with five tackles, five assists, a sack ad two tackles for losses. EJ Lange had three tackles and two assists while defensive back Zack Carr had two tackles, two assists, a sack and a tackle for loss.

“Second half we really buckled in,” said Lange. “We started to trust each other more and believe in ourselves and we did our job. Lots of little mistakes but they turned out to be big plays. You never know. Sometimes a little mistake it will just be a regular three-yard gain or sometimes it’s a touchdown.”

Park twice had touchdown leads in the first half, the first following a 12-yard pass from Erickson to Nolan Sease in the first quarter and the second on a 1-yard run by Aikens in the second that made ti a 14-7 game.

Park opens the home season Friday against the Stillwater Ponies. Stillwater dominated the 2024 contest winning 45-17. The Ponies also come in at 0-1, having lost 37-17 to Maple Grove in their season opener.