f every single guy does their job the correct way on every single play we can go toe-to-toe with pretty much every team.”

Jesse Wright, senior lineman

Home standing and fifth-ranked Forest Lake looked the part Friday night in a 53-0 victory over visiting Park.

The Rangers led start to finish, going up 15-0 after one quarter, 33-0 at the half and then 53-0 at the end of three quarters.

Forest Lake gained 341 yards in total offense, while holding the Wolfpack to -32 yards. Park had just 3 passing yards and a -35 yards rushing. The Rangers did most of their damage on the ground, running for 294 yards and five of their seven touchdowns.

“I told them that was a top five football team for a reason,” said Park head coach Rick Fryklund. “We asked them all week to go one more round and our kids continued to battle until the end.”

Park was 0-for-8 on third downs while Forest Lake was 6-for-10.

The Wolfpack also had three turnovers, two interceptions and a fumble, while Forst Lake didn’t turn the ball over. Park also had several starters banged up during the game which had to be replaced.

“I think that there might be a voodoo doll for the injury bug right now that is being attracted to us,” said Fryklund. “So hopefully that some of the guys that got pulled out of the game aren’t as bad as we initially thought. … We’ve got to get healthy; we’ve got to reload. Obviously playing Forest Lake is a very physical football team too so we’ve just got to reload next week when we go over and play Hopkins.”

Park sophomore quarterback Latavian Scott had a rough welcome to his first varsity start as he was able to complete just four of seven passes for three yards with two interceptions. Scott had five rushes for a minus 45 yards. No Park runner gained more than six yards.

All in all, it was a night to forget for the Wolfpack.

“Nothing in particular other than job responsibilities, said senior lineman Jesse Wright when asked if there was any one area the Wolfpack need to focus on. “If every single guy does their job the correct way on every single play we can go toe-to-toe with pretty much every team.”

Forest Lake improved to 3-0 with wins over Prior Lake (21-18), Anoka (31-20) and now Park (53-0).

For the Wolfpack it was more a continuation of last week’s fight against Stillwater, a 50-9 win by the Ponies.

Defensively, junior defensive back Nolan Sease had six tackles and two assists to lead Park.

“I know we didn’t execute like we necessarily wanted to, but we just got to capitalize and sue this as a little bit of extra motivation going into the next week,” said Sease.

EJ Lange Jr. had three tackles and five assists, Mitchell Dimock three tackles and two assists, Lance Hayes three tackles and four assists, Robert Schmitzer had two tackles, two assists, a sack and a tackle for loss.

“We faced a top five team in the state, I feel like our defense battled,” said senior defensive lineman Jairus Boston, who had two tackles, three assists and a tackle for loss. “Offense couldn’t really get a start but they’re fighting through every single play that they had, every single rep that they had. So all we can do is look forward. Bad loss, yea, and we’ve got to take that to heart. We’ve got to take this hard and just bounce back. We’ve got to look at it as an opportunity to get better from this.”

In addition to Forest Lake’s all-around strengths, the Rangers’ kicker was something to watch. He boomed each and every kickoff past the opponent’s goalposts, totaling 540 yards on nine kickoffs with a long of 60 yards.

Park’s degree of difficulty should ease up considerably Friday at they play at winless Hopkins. Hopkins is also 0-3 on the season with losses to Edina (21-49), East Ridge (18-34) and Woodbury (14-35).

Metro – Maroon standings

Coon Rapids 0-0 0-3

Eastview 0-0 0-3

Hopkins 0-0 0-3

Park 0-0 0-3

Roseville 0-0 0-3

Last Friday’s scores

Andover 55, Coon Rapids 14

Eagan 28, Eastview 13

Woodbury 35, Hopkins 14

Forest Lake 53, Park 0

East Ridge 23, Roseville 0