In their first meeting against a ranked team this season — the then top-ranked Lakeville South Cougars the Park Wolfpack simply weren’t competitive, losing 69-14.

Friday night at tenthranked Woodbury, the Wolfpack showed how far they’re come since the start of the season, losing in a hardfought, back-and-forth battle, 37-26.

The Royals won, but they knew they were in a dogfight.

“All week, I asked our kids, despite what anyone says, to run head towards the roar and give everything they had,” said Park head coach Rick Fryklund. “I told them, that if they did that, we would play a complete football game for four quarters.

“I know we did not win, but I was proud of how hard we played against an extremely talented and well coached Woodbury team,” Fryklund continued. “I felt that we played our best team game so far this year, and while we have things to fix, I never questioned our effort or intensity for the entire game.”

Woodbury led throughout – except for a short time in the first quarter — but the Wolfpack never let the Royals get too comfortable. Woodbury led 10-6 after one quarter and 17-14 at the half. The Royals scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 31–14 lead and seeming control of the game.

But Park rallied with two score of its own and closed to 31-26 late in the fourth quarter.

Woodbury eventually put the game away with a long pass play for the final margin.

Park slipped to 2-4 on the season and 2-3 in the Metro- Maroon South. Woodbury improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the division.

Park hosts a pair of non-division foes to close out the regular season, hosting Anoka (1-3, 1-5) Friday, Oct. 14, then Prior Lake 3-2, 4-2() on Thursday, Oct. 20.

Park and Anoka have one common opponent this season, both losing to Burnsville, Park by a 35-14 score, Anoka by a 28-24 margin. The Wolfpack won a 30-27 thriller at Anoka last fall.

Offensively, Park’s pass catchers feasted. The running backs, not so much.

David Ola-Kazeem caught a whopping 11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. OT Omot had five receptions for 103 yards and a score, averaging 20/6 yards per catch. DJ Brown Jr. had four receptions for 45 yards and two touchdowns. Skyler Morgan had four receptions for 28 yards and Taran Blasy had two catches for six yards.

Park senior quarterback Sam Berrey had a stellar night, completing 27 of 46 passes for 327 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

But for all that, Park’s running game couldn’t muster much support. Park was held to a minus-10 yards rushing. Brown gained 17 yards on 16 tries while Berrey lost 28 yards on four attempts or sacks.

Still, Park had the edge in total yards with 317 to 294 for the Royals.

Defensively, Park was led again by senior linebacker Alex Carr (seven tackles, six assists, two tackles for loss) and junior defensive back Brett Salmonson (six solo tackles, five assists, one tackle for loss). Junior defensive lineman David Laturnus had a big night defensively for Park with six tackles, two assists, a quarterback sack and three tackles for loss.

Park took a brief 6-3 lead in the middle of the first quarter on a 14-yard pass from Berrey to Omot. Woodbury answered immediately, taking the following kickoff back 82 yards for a 10-6 lead.

Woodbury grabbed a 17-6 lead in the second quarter. Then Berrey hit Ola-Kazeem with a 27-yard touchdown strike and the Wolfpack closed to 176-14 at the half.

Woodbury scored twice in the third period for a 31-14 edge. Again, the Wolfpack rallied. Berrey passed to running back Brown twice for scores on 17- and 18-yard touchdown passes as Park closed to 31-26.

But Woodbury was able to punch in a final score to put the game out of reach.

Park junior running back Taran Blasy breaks free after a short pass reception against Woodbury Friday. Photo by John Molene

Park defenders Abud Mohamed (66) and David Laturnus (35) close in on Woodbury quarterback in the third quarter. Photo by John Molene

Park senior wide receiver David Ola-Kazeem turns to haul in a reception for a 27-yard touchdown in the second quarter against Woodbury. Photo by John Molene