This one went from bad to worse quickly as a previously winless Wayzata team came into Cottage Grove and dominated the still winless Park Wolfpack Friday.

Wayzata ran up a 45-3 victory, improving to 1-4 on the season while Park slipped to 0-5.

The Trojans led 14-0 after one quarter, 24-0 at the half and 45-0 after three periods.

Wayzata scored first on a short run and then the game turned on a Wolfpack fumble which set up the Trojans deep in Park territory again. Wayzata scored to make it a 14-0 game with 1:58 t0 play in the first quarter.

With starting running back Kody Aikens sidelined, the Wolfpack had trouble moving the ball throughout the first half, picking up just one first down. Wayzata on the other hand, added two touchdowns in the second period for a 24-0 lead.

“I know that the scoreboard was definitely not in our favor, however the amount of new people that have been playing new positions the last several weeks for us, the guys that were out there, they didn’t quit,” said head coach Rick Fryklund. “And I know it wasn’t perfect, and I know things didn’t go our way but when adversity continues to come our way this season with injuries, with some big plays here and there, I’m most proud of how these kids don’t quit.

“I’m not joking at all, I’m not being flippant at all,” Frylund continued. “I almost have a two-deep of injured guys and again people could complain, and moan and mope and I know that it’s tough for these guys. They envision something different happening with all those guys that are injured but they just move on, they pivot, and they show up to work, and we just do the best that we can.”

The second half was more or less rinse and repeat. Park struggled mightily to generate any offense, while the defense got put in bad position several times due to turnovers and short fields for the Wayzata offense.

Park gained just 125 yards on the night, 110 yards rushing and 15 yards passing. The Wolfpack had just five first downs for the game, and just one in the opening half. The Wolfpack also lost two fumbles and had one interception. Wayzata didn’t have a turnover.

“We can’t have the turnovers that we did,” said Fryklund. “Special teams now, different phase than last week with the punts and punt return, we’ve got to fix that. And them our turnovers again, at very bad times. I thought our defense actually played fairly well. I mean I know it doesn’t look like it but they were put in some very difficult spots all night because of those turnovers so when a team is starting a drive where they did and Wayzata being as deep as they are our guys battled as hard as they can but eventually … it’s going to bust.”

Wayzata rushed for 177 yards and passed for 92 more for a total of 269 yards.

A 65-yard punt return and a 40-yard pass play by the Trojans in the third quarter added insult to injury and made it a 31-0 game.

The Wolfpack avoided a shutout with a 31-yard field goal by Matthew Kamande with 5:59 left in the game.

Park was without the services of leading rusher Kody Aikens, among many other injured Park regulars and starters who were forced to watch from the sidelines.

Sophomore running back Olumide Aluko filled in for Aikens and gained 95 yards on 14 carries, with a long run of 51 yards in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Latavian Scott completed 3 of 9 passes for 15 yards with one interception.

Junior linebacker Gabe Przekurat had six tackles and two assists to lead Park. Senior defensive back Jacob Chipman had four tackles and three assists. Lance Hayes had seven stops. EJ Lange Jr. had six stops, including two tackles for losses. Jesse Wright and Ricky Santos Jr. each had six total tackles. Robert Schmitzer had six stops and a tackle for loss.

Park hosts winless Coon Rapids Friday. The Coons dropped a 21-14 decision to Eastview last weekend.

Metro Maroon standings

Eastview 2-0 2-3

Hopkins 2-0 2-3

Coon Rapids 0-1 0-5

Park 0-1 0-5

Roseville 0-2 0-5

Friday’s scores:

Wayzata 45, Park 3

Eastview 21, Coon Rapids 14

Hopkins 17, Roseville 14