Coach Fryklund shares his thoughts on his team

They know they could have tapped out at any point in time but I’m really proud that they put their chin up and they just said I’m going to keep fighting all the way so that’s what I’ll say is our positive.”

Park head coach Rick Fryklund

Rankings

Park was ranked 28th in 6A in the latest prep football rankings by MaxPreps taken before the Stillwater game. The Wolfpack was ranked 149th among Minneapolis teams and 170th in Minnesota.

Ninth-ranked Stillwater flexed its muscles early and often in a 58-20 win over hist Park in the regular-season finale for both teams Thursday.

The Ponies grabbed a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and were never really threatened by the Wolfpack. Stillwater led 44-14 at the half.

It doesn’t get any easier this week.

Park (3-5) drew a seventh seed and will play at second-seeded and defending state champion Maple Grove (6-2) in the first round of the 2023 state Class 6A football tournament. The game is set for Friday, Oct. 27 at Maple Grove (6-2) with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Maple Grove is ranked No. 6 in the Star Tribune’s latest 6A rankings. The Crimson are averaging 400 yards a game, including 275 yards rushing and 125 yards passing. Maple Grove is averaging 36.5 points per contest, while allowing 16 points per game. The team defeated No. 3 Minnetonka 27-13 in its last outing. Junior running back Charles Langama is averaging 9.3 yards per carry and has 1,425 yards rushing on the season. Defensively, the Crimson have 10 players with 22 or more tackles this season, led by junior linebacker Jacob Wrbanek’s 65 stops.

With the win over Park, Stillwater improved to 6-2 on the season. The Ponies unleashed a powerful ground game Thursday, scoring three rushing touchdowns in the first quarter and eventually seven runs for scores in the game. Stillwater gained 483 total yards on the night while holding Park to 219.

The Ponies ran the ball for 322 yards and added 161 passing yards.

“They’re a pretty good team,” said Park head coach Rick Fryklund. “There was definitely a difference between the Wolfpack and the Ponies tonight and it showed up in all phases of the game. So credit to them. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get to where we want to get to.

“I think if you were in the stands or on the field (you saw that) our kids fought all the way, they really did,” Fryklund added. “They know they could have tapped out at any point in time but I’m really proud that they put their chin up and they just said I’m going to keep fighting all the way so that’s what I’ll say is our positive.”   

Park’s offense, on the other hand gained just 53 yards rushing but did manager 166 yards passing. Junior quarterback Miskir Esayas completed 6 of 15 passes for 100 yards, including touchdown strikes of 29 and 61 yards. Morgan caught eight passes for 147 yards and the first and final Park touchdowns. Alternating quarterback Ben Pederson completed 5 of 13 passes for 66 yards and a 7-yard touchdown pass to Adam Tait.

Park also hurt themselves with turnovers, not that Stillwater needed much help. The Wolfpack suffered two interceptions, a lost fumble and a high snap that sailed over the punter which resulted in a Stillwater safety.

Stillwater’s 38-point win over Park was its largest margin of the season. The Ponies had been averaging 8.6-point margin of victory in their previous five wins.

Wolfpack seniors took the loss especially hard.

“It’s truly heartbreaking,” said senior running back/linebacker DJ Wade. “They (the Ponies) just played their hearts out and they made sure they kept their foot on the gas and they didn’t let go. They played their hearts out the whole game and that’s something we need to do as a team – to play all 48 minutes.

Wade is hopeful his team can take some lessons from the Stillwater game into their playoff game.

“Its winner go home and I don’t want to go home,” added Wade. “So all I can do is bring energy to the team, bring anything and everything I can and keep the season going.” 

Senior Brett Salmonson led Park rushers with 27 yards on 14 carries. Take away a 13-yard-long run and Salmonson had just 14 yards on 13 carries. Esayas had 25 yards on six runs.

Salmonson also once again also led the defense, recording six solo tackles and nine assists for a total of 15 stops. Bryan Wright had five tackles and seven assists. Miguel Thelen nine stops, Keon Moody five stops, Jacob Czarnota four. Taran Blasy seven in his first action since the season opener. David Laturnus, Kaleb Conley and Fiyinfoluwa Taiwo six each and Kody Aikens had five stops.

“They (Stillwater) definitely played hard. They were well coached, well managed as a whole team, they just played hard and physical and dominated,” said senior defensive back Thelen. “(We need) to work on the thing we did wrong, add one more extra step on the tackles, just work on the things we did wrong. That’s really it.”

GAME NOTES: In last week’s story, Park’s Morgan was mistakenly reported to have been ejected from the Mounds View game. This was incorrect and the Journal regrets the error.

SEEDINGS: Stillwater (6-2) earned a top four seed in the 6A playoffs, along with Eden Prairie (8-0), Lakeville South (7-1) and Centennial (7-1).

Park opponents this season drew the following seeds: Stillwater (1), Mounds View (4), East Ridge (6), Buffalo (7), Eastview (7), Burnsville (8), Roseville (8) and Hopkins (8) Park defeated Burnsville, Roseville and Hopkins this season.

RANKINGS: Park was ranked 28^th in 6A in the latest prep football rankings by MaxPreps taken before the Stillwater game. The Wolfpack was ranked 149th among Minneapolis teams and 170th in Minnesota.

Stillwater was ranked 9^th among 6A teams, 40^th in Minnesota and 41st in Minneapolis.