In a yo-yo of a season for the Park Wolfpack, Thursday’s game against Prior Lake was definitely one of the lows.

Now it’s on to the 6A section playoffs for the Wolfpack. Park (3-5 overall) will play at eighth-ranked Centennial (6-2) in Circle Pines on Friday, Oct. 28, in a game starting at 7 p.m.

Park was seeded No. 7 in Quadrant 4 and Centennial No. 2. Other quadrant firstround matchups are No. 8 Roseville at No. 1 Rosemount, No. 5 Wayzata at No. 4 St. Michael-Albertville and No. 6 Edina at No. 3 Blaine.

Centennial just wrapped up a successful regular season with a 17-14 win over tenth-ranked Woodbury. Woodbury defeated Park 3726 on Oct. 7. Centennial’s only losses came to No. 3 Stillwater 29-28 and at topranked Maple Grove 24-17.

Centennial used a powerful ground game to knock off Woodbury, rushing for 259 yards while passing for only 35. Quarterback Daylen Cummings had three pass completions while rushing for 48 yards. Six Centennial backs rushed for at least 27 yards in the game. It’s going to be a very rugged test for the Wolfpack both defensively and offensively.

Visiting Prior Lake put on a clinic on how to play hardnosed football in a 57-7 rout of the host Wolfpack on a sunny fall afternoon Thursday.

“It’s about little things and they’re a really good football team,” said head Park coach Rick Fryklund. “They’re ranked where they are for a reason. (Prior Lake is ranked seventh among Class 6A teams, Lakeville South sixth and Woodbury 10th). “But those little things get magnified against better competition and where we’re at in the playoffs now every little thing is going to matter. And just like you heard from that other gentleman, those little things aren’t just on a practice field or a game field, they occur elsewhere also.”

Prior Lake jumped on Park hard, early and often and led 20-0 after one quarter and 37-7 ay the half. The Lakers added injury to injury as they kicked a 46-yard field goal to end the second quarter.

The Lakers scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter for a 51-7 lead and never really took their collective feet of the gas.

“They executed very well, they came to play and we didn’t” said senior linebacker Alex Carr, who led the Park defense with seven solo tackles and 16 assists.

Seventh-ranked Prior Lake snapped a three-game losing streak (all to 6A heavyweights — No. 5 Eden Prairie, No. 6 Lakeville South and No. 2 Rosemount — and finished the regular season 5-3.

The Lakers rolled up 568 yards against the Wolfpack, while holding Park to 283 total yards. Prior Lake did most of its damage on the ground, rushing for 283 yards and seven touchdowns.

Park got 214 yards through the air but just 69 on the ground. Prior Lake’s early dominance forced the Wolfpack to go to the air for much of the game.

Park senior quarterback Sam Berry completed a 24yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Skyler Morgan in the second quarter for the Wolfpack’s only points of the game. Morgan was the lone bright spot on offense for the Wolfpack as he caught seven passes for 105 yards and a score and returned six kickoffs for 114 yards, a 19-yard average.

Berry passed for 214 yards and a score, completing 15 of 39 passes with no interceptions. Still, it seemed the Park passing game had more misses than connections.

Outside of Morgan’s play, and a 55-yard strike to Taran Blasy, Park’s passing attack had an off night. Top receiver OT Omot caught just one pass for 14 yards.

The Wolfpack were also missing some key players from the lineup from injuries or academic reason for all or part the game Thursday. Coach Fryklund declined to use that as an excuse but said it did affect the team.

“I’m not going to make any excuses, but it did,” Fryklund said.

Senior running back DJ Brown Jr. led the rushing with 15 carries for 70 yards.

Asked how the team regroups from this loss, Carr said, “we’re going to practice hard and we’re going to stay disciplined in practice and we’re going to stay locked in.”

“We’ve got to focus on those little things if those little things are important,” said Fryklund. “Inside the classroom, on the practice field and the game field and realize that if we don’t, then their season is going to be over.”

Junior defensive back Brett Salmonson had five solos and 14 assists. Senior linebacker William Deutsch had three solos and nine total tackles. Senior defensive back Brandan Lee had three solos and eight assists.

Wolfpack defenders gang tackle Prior Lake running back Brody Fumanti in the second half Thursday. Photo by John Molene

Park wide receiver Skyler Morgan breaks into the clear after a reception against Prior Lake. Morgan led Park with seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Photo by John Molene

Park’s Brett Salmonson (12) and William Deutsch (3) lead a host of Park defenders in stopping a Prior Lake opponent. Photo by John Molene