1 September 2023
Tanner Zolnosky may be the metro’s premier quarterback this fall. The East Ridge senior signal caller showed why Thursday with an efficient aerial performance.
But East Ridge also flashed its balance, with a physical, multi-faceted running game that could round out the offense and make the Raptors a true threat in Class 6A this season.
East Ridge’s offense moved the ball generally at will in its season-opening 40-21 victory over Park at TCO Stadium.
Zolnosky threw for 173 yards and a pair of scores, while Isaac Walker punched in a couple touchdowns on the ground.
Thursday marked the renewal of a rivalry on the gridiron, as the District 833 foes squared off in football for the first time since 2014.
The score of that 2014 bout was 49-0 Raptors. Thursday’s game was far more competitive. Park’s up-tempo offense gashed the Raptors on a couple first half drives and Park’s Bryan Wright picked off Zolnosky twice on deep ball attempts. Park through the kitchen sink at East Ridge with various strategic tactics on both sides of the ball.
Raptors coach Dan Fritze noted a team like Park is very difficult to prepare for Week 1.
But both of Wright’s interceptions were immediately followed by Park turnovers, which the Raptors then converted into touchdowns.
Park coach Rick Fryklund told his players their effort and physicality were where they needed to be, but added “our discipline was nowhere near where it needed to be to beat this team tonight.”
The second of the turnovers-turned-touchdowns came on a 1-yard run from East Ridge offensive lineman Kene Anene — a 6-foot-6 specimen who holds an offer from Kansas — to put East Ridge up 38-14 in the middle of the third. That continues a tradition of sorts for East Ridge, where the program tries to reward certain players.
“That was fun,” Fritze said. “He’s earned that through his hard work and leadership. He’s just an awesome human being and the guys just loved every part of that.”
The touchdown was an exclamation point on a strong night for the entire Raptors offensive line.
“We have such a high ceiling,” Anene said. “We’re going to be really good.”
The Wolfpack debuted their Guardian Caps in competition Thursday. The white foam helmet protector — well known for its use by NFL teams during training camps — “reduces impact up to 33 percent,” per the company’s website.
Park’s football program raised $11,000 to outfit every player with a cap.
“We wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t really, really important,” Fryklund said. “And I was kind of joking (postgame), did the Guardian Caps make a difference in this game, guys? Did you even notice they were there?”
The game was originally scheduled to be played at East Ridge, but was moved to Eagan when the Raptors’ newly-installed turf wasn’t quite ready to host the opener.
The contest was also dubbed the “Teddy’s Heart Foundation Game” — with the crowd and each coaching staff decked out in red shirts to honor Teddy Dowdle, an East Ridge alum and Cottage Grove native. Dowdle had a heart defect, and he collapsed and suffered a sudden cardiac arrest that took his life while playing basketball at a park when he was 22 years old.
It’s believed that if an AED device was nearby the incident, could still be alive today. Since his passing, it’s become his family’s mission “to push for wide spread access and availability of AED units,” per the Teddy’s Heart Foundation website.
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