Stillwater ran the ball well, but it was the Ponies’ passing game that killed the Wolfpack Friday.

The Ponies passed for four touchdowns, ran for two more and had a seventh on an early 33-yard interception return in a dominating 50-9 win over Park in the Wolfpack’s home opener.

Stillwater rolled up 394 total yards against the Wolfpack, with 213 yards rushing and 181 yards passing. The Ponies completed 12 of 15 passes for four touchdowns, including four straight scoring connections in the second and third quarters.

The game started off badly and quickly for Park, as Stillwater scored on a 33-yard interception return just 11 seconds into the game. Park trimmed the deficit to 7-3 on a 24-yard Matthew Kamande field goal later in the first quarter but after that it was all Stillwater.

The Ponies pushed the lead from 7-3 to 29-3 at the half and then led 50-3 after three quarters. Stillwater scored six straight touchdowns and 43 consecutive points to easily put the game on ice.

Park finally got in the end zone in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard run by senior running back Keon Moody.

The Wolfpack had 204 total yards, 128 rushing yards and 76 passing.

Park junior quarterback Esten Erickson completed 8 of 19 passes for 72 yards with a long gain of 19 yards and the early interception.
Senior running back Kody Aikens ran 18 times for 61 yards to lead Park but fumbled once. Moody gained 36 yards on 6 attempts and Erickson had 17 yards on 3 runs.

Junior wide receiver Kalab Miftah had four receptions for 28 yards and Aikens three catches for 26 yards.

Park struggled on third downs, succeeding just 3 times in 12 attempts. Stillwater was 5 of 8. Park was 2 of 5 on fourth down attempts.

Defensively, Robert Schmitzer had three solo stops, one assist and one tackle for loss to lead Park. EJ Lange Jr. had six total stops and Zack Carr had five total tackles.

One positive sign for the Wolfpack was they cut both their turnovers and penalties down. Turnovers were cut in half, from four to two, while penalties dropped from nine 9 infractions for 134 yards at White Bear Lake in the season opener to seven penalties for 61 yards against the Ponies.

Park, now 0-2 on the season, plays a non-division game at Forest Lake (2-0) Friday. The Rangers opened the season with a 21-18 win over Prior Lake, then won at Anoka 31-20 Friday. The two former Suburban East Conference rivals haven’t played each other since the 2020 season, a 28-27 Forest Lake win.

Stillwater, now 1-1, plays at Shakopee Friday.

None of the five teams in the Metro Maroon district has a win yet, with Coon Rapids, Eastview, Hopkins, Park and Roseville each 0-2.