Park football: Wolfpack stomps Forest Lake, snaps losing streak

Park senior Erik Black couldn’t keep his eyes off the scoreboard. Maybe he didn’t believe it.

The Park football team opened the 2012 season with a 47-12 throttling of Suburban East Conference foe Forest Lake on Thursday, Aug. 30, at Park High School. The win brought an end to a 21-game losing streak that dated back to Oct. 9, 2009.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Black, a linebacker, tight end and team captain. “We’ve wanted this for so long and we did it. I’ve never wanted something this much. It’s been two-and-a-half years. Things are changing.”

The last time Park won was a 27-25 squeaker over East Ridge on Park’s Homecoming in 2009. Park went on to lose its remaining three games that season then went 0-9 in each of the past two seasons.

Thursday night’s victory was the first time Black and the rest of the Park seniors got to experience a varsity win.

“I’m just so proud of these seniors to knock off this losing streak – and to not only knock it off, but destroy it with this big victory,” Park head coach Darin Glazier said. “That’s an exclamation point right there. To see the smiles on their faces, jumping around and having fun. Hopefully, we can use that energy to keep this thing going.”

In the win, Park opened up a 27-0 lead on Forest Lake. The Rangers scored just before the first half ended to make the score 27-6. However, Park scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 41-6, blowing the game wide open. The Wolfpack rested the majority of their starters in the fourth quarter.

“It’s that hard work that we put in over the summer,” Black said. “It can’t be beat. There’s nobody that was working harder than us over the summer. We have a good group of seniors and some underclassmen that can play ball too. But, it’s the hard work that got us here.”

Forest Lake had no answer for Park senior running back Dylan Smallidge in the game. Despite only playing three quarters Smallidge, a three-year starter, ran for 222 yards and three touchdowns.

“It feels great,” Smallidge said. “I realized we haven’t won in a long time. My mindset was that it would end tonight and it did. Now that we have the taste of winning, we’re going to continue to do it. I believe in everybody on this team. We got it done.”

In addition to Smallidge’s dominance, junior quarterback Sam Domeier had a big game in his first varsity start. Domeier also scored three touchdowns – two rushing and one passing – a 30-yard toss to sophomore Brandyn Tulloch. Domeier had 117 yards rushing in the game. Park junior David Giadyu scored Park’s final touchdown on a 25-yard run.

It was Glazier’s first win as Park coach.

“Last year I was heartbroken for the kids that didn’t get to taste a victory,” Glazier said. “I felt like we had so many opportunities to do it, but it just never clicked. This is a new year and these guys believe in themselves. It’s a big relief for me, but it’s a bigger relief for these seniors that have been here waiting for the tide to turn. I hope we can keep this going.”

See the full story and additional photos in the Sept. 5 issue of the Bulletin

Tags: sports, football, park, wolfpack, prep, updates