In the second half I felt like we did some things to look like a much better football team than we did in the first half.”

Head Coach Rick Fryklund

We know we can beat them; we’ve just got to pound it more.”

Senior wide receiver Eyuel Miftah

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Park (0-1) plays at Burnsville (0-1) Friday.

Park got off to an agonizingly slow start against perennial power East Ridge on a very soggy Thursday night at Wolfpack Stadium. The Wolfpack gave up two quick touchdowns and trailed 14-0 with 3:04 to play in the first quarter.

The game start was delayed for more than an hour and a half because of a storm. And when it did begin, the Raptors looked dominate early.
But a dramatic 60-yard interception return by Park junior linebacker Aidan Boche changed the tenor of the game and the Wolfpack played the Raptors more or less to a standstill the rest of the way. The second half was a 7-7 tie.

East Ridge won the battle 28-14 but the Wolfpack showed they belonged on the same field as the Raptors by the game’s end.

“As the game went on I felt like defensively we continued to keep playing better and better and better,” said Park head coach Rick Fryklund. “But against a good team if you let them get a little bit of a head start on you and you’re always playing catchup you can’t always finish it off in the end. We had chances, right. And I’m not saying that we would have had more than them at the end but we had chances to make it a one touchdown game there at the end and maybe get another possession.”

“In the second half I felt like we did some things to look like a much better football team than we did in the first half,” Fryklund added. “I saw a lot of potential and you heard me tell them that. I really do see potential and I’m excited. Now don’t get me wrong I wish it turned out a little bit differently but how hard they played all the way until the end, that is what I am most proud of. Because sometimes you can give it your best go and you still come up short. And we didn’t start how we wanted but we finished exactly how I’m hoping that we finish the rest of the year.”

Following Boche’s theft and score, East Ridge scored again with just 14 seconds left before the end of the first half to take a 21-7 lead into the break.

“We just weren’t locked in the whole time and we came out a little lackadaisical, and we can’t do that. We’ve got to fire out hard,” said senior wide receiver Eyuel Miftah when asked if he could explain Park’s slow start. “We know we can beat them; we’ve just got to pound it more.”

Each team put up one score in the second half, Park’s coming on a 59-yard pass from senior quarterback Jacob Czarnota to junior wide out Matthew Kamande.

Asked how he felt when the Wolfpack battled East Ridge to the end of the game. “I think it felt very good,” said lineman Junior Mendoza. “It definitely made us closer as a team. Getting our mentality fixed after halftime was a great thing for us and fighting together at the end was amazing and I think we did well.”

Park coaches stress doing the little things right can make the big things work. That happened Thursday, said junior linebacker Aidan Boche.

“We had a play where we had a backup linebacker missing and he came in just ready to [play,” said Boche. “He didn’t see the field all game and he came in and made a really good play that changed the tide and we got a stop on defense and it turned the tide for our defense.”

Statistically, East Ridge had the edge in total yards, 285-185, and especially on the ground where the Raptors rolled up 220 yards to Park’s 46. The Raptors also converted 9 of 16 third downs to 0-for-7 for the Wolfpack.

At quarterback, Czarnota completed 5 of 15 passes for 109 yards with a touchdown but had three intercepted. Starter Miskir Esayas connected of 4 of 9 passes for 30 yards with an interception.

Kody Aikens led Park in rushing with 8 carries for 24 yards.

Kamande caught 2 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. Aikens had five receptions for 38 yards.

Boche led the Wolfpack with five tackles and two assists, including a tackle for a loss in addition to his interception, Aikens and Bryan Wright each recorded four tackles.

“I think we did a really good job of playing as a family,” said junior linebacker Keon Moody. “After we came out in the second half we just came together, played together, we stayed disciplined, did what we had to do and the score got tighter. We only let them have one touchdown in the second half.”

“We’re a good team and we just have to play from the first play to the end of the last play and just work together and be a family,” said junior linebacker Lance Hayes.

Park (0-1) plays at Burnsville (0-1) Friday. Burnsville lost 59-22 at Rochester Mayo in its opener Friday. The Blaze gave up 330 rushing yards and 145 passing yards in the game.

GAME NOTES: Always formidable, East Ridge advanced to the 2023 state Class AAAAAA football quarterfinals before losing a 35-34 heartbreaker to Lakeville South.

East Ridge kicker Luke Ryerse went 4-for-4 in PATs and boomed four kickoffs 240 yards, a 60-yard average. He punted three times for a 48-yard average. Originally signing with Alabama, he switched to the University of Minnesota for both football and baseball.

Despite the two school’s close proximity, Park and East Ridge have played just this season and last since the old Suburban East Conference football alignment was scrapped. These are the scores from the five previous meetings, all East Ridge wins: 2023 (40-21), 2014 (49-0), 2013 (55-20), 2012 (41-17) and 2011 (20-14).

No team in the Metro-Maroon won its season opener.

Metro-Maroon standings

Division Overall

Burnsville 0-0 0-1

Roseville 0-0 0-1

Hopkins 0-0 0-1

Park 0-0 0-1

Eastview 0-0 0-1

Buffalo 0-0 0-1