Park football: Wolfpack thumped 43-7 by Woodbury

Woodbury quarterback Sawyer Moon and Tucker Benjamin had the first big play of the game but then Quaran Al-Hameed took center stage as the Royals routed Park 43-7 Friday in Woodbury.

Al-Hameed rushed for four first-half touchdowns and finished with 176 yards on 22 carries. Al-Hameed also blocked a punt that turned into a safety when it bounced out of the back of the end zone.

After Moon and Benjamin hooked up for a 53-yard touchdown on the first play of scrimmage to give the Royals (2-1, 2-1 SEC) a 7-0 lead after the extra point attempt, Al-Hameed broke loose for 57-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 just 3 minutes, 24 seconds into the game.

Al-Hameed bounced, bobbed and spun out of several tackles throughout the game and made sure Woodbury stayed in front in a contest between rivals.

“He loves football,” Royals head coach Andy Hill said. “You see it in the way he runs. He doesn’t run just to pick up yards, he runs to never leave After rushing for a 57-yard touchdown with 8:36 left to play in the first quarter Al-Hameed added a 5-yard run with 3 minutes left in the quarter and added a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. Al-Hameed came into the game as the second leading rusher in the conference behind Wolfpack running back Dylan Smallidge. Al-Hameed now has 10 touchdowns in three games this season.

Woodbury’s defense snuffed out any chance for Park following its lone touchdown in the first quarter. The Wolfpack (1-2, 1-2 SEC) finished with 223 yards of total offense. Park had 167 yards rushing with 123 of those yards coming from Smallidge. Smallidge gained 54 of those yards with a run in the third quarter with the Royals already leading 46-7. Woodbury finished with 415 yards of total offense.

“They’re bigger and they’re more physical and that’s basically where games are won or lost and they dominated us tonight because of it,” Park head coach Darin Glazier said. “We weren’t getting off our blocks and doing our jobs and that’s a credit to them.”

The Wolfpack made it interesting for a moment in the first quarter after quarterback Sam Domeier plunged across the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown with 5 minutes, 11 seconds to play in the first quarter.

But Park failed to get anything going offensively the rest of the way. The defense for the Royals had three sacks in the first half, forced two fumbles and had an interception.

“We never got into a rhythm offensively and our defense – I don’t think we had a stop until the fourth quarter,” Glazier said. “Not going to win a lot of ballgames that way.”

Park did not get a stop on defense until the fourth quarter and that came on a turnover on downs. Moon finished 12 of 21 for 204 yards and two touchdowns. His other passing touchdown went to Chris Ogiamien in the third quarter on a 13-yard slant to make it 43-7 after the extra point.

After the Wolfpack cut it to 14-7 in the first quarter Al-Hameed rushed for three touchdowns and blocked a punt to put the Royals up 36-7.

“This is still a big rivalry – Woodbury, Park – and they’re a much improved team from a year ago and we had to have our A game,” Hill said.

Woodbury has won the last 10 consecutive meetings and Park hasn’t beaten the Royals since 2002.

Park will face White Bear Lake, which beat Forest Lake 48-21 Friday, next Friday in White Bear Lake.

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