Several of the top offensive players have moved on. The Wolfpack return a handful of experienced players on both sides of the ball. But playing better defense is what the Wolfpack needs to do to show improvement this fall.

“Last year we had a lot of young players,” said head coach Rick Fryklund, who is starting his seventh season directing the Wolfpack. “We played a lot of sophomores last year. Having another year of seasoning obviously is exciting. We’ve got some different configurations on our line that we’re still trying to work through. But I know most coaches and most programs probably are as well.”

Fryklund listed team speed, good athletes, cohesiveness as team strengths this season.

Better defense may be the key to Park’s 2024 season.

“I think until we prove otherwise, we have to play some better defense, just to be totally honest with you,” Fryklund said. “Not that we haven’t been working on it. But if you look last year to this year that is the question mark because if we can play some better defense that will make us much more successful as an entire team.”

Senior Ben Pederson and junior Miskir Esayas split the quarterbacking duties last fall. Esayas passed for 989 yards and 11 touchdowns and a 58.6 completion rate, while Pederson threw for 566 yards and 7 scores. Esayas returns this fall while Pederson was a senior last fall.

Graduated senior Brett Salmonson was the leading rusher for the Wolfpack in 2023 with 850 yards and 7 touchdowns. Esayas gained 354 yards and had 5 touchdowns.

Junior running back Ben Andrews had just seven runs for 39 yards last fall but his workload will increase dramatically this season. Junior Kody Aikens will see time both in the backfield and as a wide reliever.

Another graduated senior, Skyler Morgan, was by far the leading receiver with 628 yards and 5 touchdowns. Dom Batts returns as a third-year starter at receiver. He had 14 catches for 324 yards in 2023 despite playing only about half the season after suffering a broken hand. He averaged 23.1 yards per catch.

Salmonson also recorded the most tackles, with 126 total. Sophomore linebacker Keon Moody had 73 total tackles and sophomore defensive back Zack Carr had 52. Both will obviously be key players for Park this season.

Returning linemen with lots of game experience are led by senior right guard Hunter Gross.

“I feel like we’re really close together, a brotherhood” said Gross when asked what he saw as team strengths. “Another strength I see is that we’re kind of like a younger team and that shows because we’re a lot more energetic I would say.”

Staying together is key to a winning season, Gross said.

“To have a winning record we need to stay true to ourselves and stay with our core values and stay as a brotherhood.”

Sorting out the line has been a point of emphasis during fall two-a-days.

“We’re just trying to train for depth with some other guys, too,” said Fryklund. “We’re still figuring out all those pieces because sooner or later you do need some more people to play on the line.

Park went 3-6 last season, including 3-2 in the Metro-Maroon division, finishing third.

Park had a high-powered offense last season, averaging 26.3 points.

But on the other hand, the Wolfpack defense often gave up a lot of yards and points. Park allowed 36.4 points, a difference of 10 points a game. The Wolfpack gave up 40 points or more to East Ridge, Eastview, Stillwater and Maple Grove.

“We did struggle last year to stop people from scoring,” Fryklund acknowledged. “We couldn’t get out of key situations. Our tackling at the most inopportune times seemed to be faltering. So we have spent every single practice from June when we had our summer allocations to now in two-a-days where we are doing 15 minutes of tackling and 15 minutes of pursuit. So we’re spending more time on it this year to make sure we alleviate that issue so that hopefully we get off the field a little more frequently.”

“Defensively we have a lot of returners there,” added Fryklund. “Jacob Czarnota played some corner and safety for us. He’s with us this year and he’s a Division I lacrosse athlete so obviously he can be pretty explosive for us on defense. Keon Moody was a starting linebacker last year for us. Kody Aikens played some linebacker on defense.”

Park also has several players back who saw spot duty last season on defense. One name to watch there is junior middle linebacker Aidan Boche.

Maple Grove knocked the Wolfpack out of the 2023 playoffs in the Class 6A first round, winning 53-21.

Park’s players are nothing but optimistic about the upcoming season.

“I expect undefeated, just the best of the best for all of us,” said Park wide receiver Dominick Dean. “Just everybody not having limitations to themselves, just playing the best and everything like that I think like coach says, little things are big things.”

Park put too much emphasis on one player on defense last season, senior linebacker/running back Taran Blasy, said senior defensive back Bryan Wright, and when Blasy got hurt and knocked out of the first game it disrupted the plans.

“This year I feel like we’re not relaying on one spot, we’ve got depth at each position,” said Wright. “I feel like if anyone gets injured, God forbid, we’re still going to be in a position to win games. I just want the team to have a winning record and for myself, I want to be all-state.”

Park opens the season Thursday, hosting archrival East Ridge in a game starting at 7:30 in newly refurbished Wolfpack Stadium.

2024 Park football schedule

8/29 East Ridge 7 p.m.

9/6 at Burnsville 7 p.m.

9/13 at Buffalo 7 p.m.

9/20 Roseville 5 p.m.

9/27 at Hopkins 7 p.m.

10/3 Eastview 6 p.m.

10/11 Mounds View 7 p.m.

10/17 at Stillwater 7 p.m.