We’ve got to figure out some stuff defensively in order to help out our offense a little bit more because putting up 50 points and still coming out on the bad side is an indicator that we have some work to do.”

Head Coach Rick Fryklund.

Second half we came out there with a new mentality and changed things up and we made a few stops but ultimately in the end we didn’t win as a team, we didn’t play as a team in the beginning, and we didn’t win as a team at the end.”

Junior linebacker Aidan Boche

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Park hosts Eastview (2-2, 2-3) in an unusual Thursday night game with the usual 7 p.m. kickoff.

What a difference a year makes. Last season, Park dominated a Hopkins Royals team that wouldn’t win a game in a 48-14 victory.

Friday night in Minnetonka was a completely different story. The visiting Wolfpack rocked and rolled on offense just like last fall, but the defense wasn’t there. Park rolled up 423 yards in offense but came out on the wrong end of a 57-50 decision in a Hopkins homecoming win.

It was the third straight win for the surging Royals, who improved to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the Metro-Maroon race. Park lost for the third straight week and slipped to 1-3 in the division and 1-4 on the season.

Park had arguably its best offensive showing of the season, but the defense couldn’t contain the Royals. The Wolfpack gave up 507 yards in total offense and surrendered big play after big play to an athletic Hopkins offense. Hopkins repeatedly took advantage of Park’s defense both through the air -- passing for 259 yards and four touchdowns and on the ground (248 rushing yards).

“I congratulated the offense on a great game,” said head coach Rick Fryklund. “Defensively we put our best cover guy on their best cover guy and if I had the opportunity, I’d still play it the same way. But 13 for them had some great catches but I still think our four is a pretty good player.

“Hopkins has some great athletes, they really do, and kudos to them for having a great night,” Fryklund added. “We’ve got to figure out some stuff defensively in order to help out our offense a little bit more because putting up 50 points and still coming out on the bad side is an indicator that we have some work to do."

Park made one big play after another on offense, only to watch as the Hopkins offense was close to unstoppable.

“I think we just came in prideful of what we’ve accomplished in the past years,” said junior linebacker Aidan Boche. “And I feel like we got our heads way up high and just lost. It ended up hurting us in the first half. Our defense – our offense played one heck of a game. They played an amazing game, but our defense just wasn’t out there, we weren’t making tackles, we weren’t wrapping up, we weren’t doing what we are supposed to do and that hurt our team.

“Second half we came out there with a new mentality and changed things up and we made a few stops but ultimately in the end we didn’t win as a team, we didn’t play as a team in the beginning, and we didn’t win as a team at the end,” Boche added.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with Hopkins leading 12-7 after the first quarter but Park rallying to take lead of 21-12 and then 24-19. But a 30-yard pass from Tre Moore put the Royals up 27-24 at the break.

Hopkins remained ahead for the rest of the game, but the Wolfpack made it interesting in the second half, twice rallying to close the gap. Park closed to 35-30 on a 75-yard kickoff return by Naod Tewelde and then 41-36 in the third quarter on a 9-yard run by Kody Aikens.

But Hopkins scored the next two touchdowns to take a commanding 57-36 lead early in the fourth quarter. Still the Wolfpack offense was clicking on all cylinders and Park scored again on another Aikens run -- his fourth touchdown run of the night – and a 28-yard pass from Miskir Esayas to Naod Tewelde with just 37 seconds left. Park tried the onside kick, which was bobbled but recovered by the Royals. And that was the ball game.

Park’s offense played well, rushing for 296 yards and passing for 127 for a total of 423.

Park played two quarterbacks Friday. Sophomore Esten Erickson started the game and went 4 of 7 for 58 yards. Esayas came in to start the second half and completed 6 of 13 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown, with one crucial interception.

The Wolfpack had success running the ball at the Royals. Aikens ran 18 times for 120 yards and scored four touchdowns. Tewelde had just 5 carries but rolled for 125 yards. Tewelde also had three receptions for 44 yards and a score.

“We tried to come out here and do everything we could, but we came up a little bit short,” said Tewelde. “We’ve just got to come back, next week we’ve got to do better, next week we’ve got to do a lot better on D.”

Defensively the Wolfpack was led by senior defensive back Anthony Giadyu who had eight solo tackles and two assists. Bryan Wright had six total tackles and an interception. Zach Carr four tackles and a tackle for loss. Boche had eight total tackles. EJ Lange Jr. had two solo stops, three assists, a sack, a tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery.

“We all just need to work on ourselves, just how we played on defense,” said linebacker Brevin Vang.

Another positive note for the Wolfpack was that they were whistled for just four penalties for just 30 yards, a week after being penalized 11 times for 110 yards in a loss to Roseville.

Park hosts Eastview (2-2, 2-3) in an unusual Thursday night game with the usual 7 p.m. kickoff. Eastview is coming off a 19-8 win over Burnsville but has had trouble putting points on the scoreboard this season, averaging just 11.8 points per game. Eastview has won two of the last three games in the series, winning 36-32 in 2021, losing 43-36 in 2022 and wining 42-14 last season.

Metro-Maroon standings

Division All Games

Buffalo 4-0 4-1

Hopkins 3-1 3-2

Roseville 2-2 2-3

Eastview 2-2 2-3

Park 1-3 1-4

Burnsville 0-4 0-5

Friday’s results: Hopkins 57, Park 50; Buffalo 24, Roseville 7; Eastview 19, Burnsville 8.