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South St. Paul's slow start to season forgotten

By BRYCE EVANS, Special to the Star Tribune, 10/18/14, 6:14PM CDT

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South St. Paul has taken off after an opening loss, claiming the Metro East championship outright.


South St. Paul quarterback Dan Pietruszewski handed off to running back Jaden Bjorklund during practice (RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER/STAR TRIBUNE)

 

Just one game into the 2014 season, senior running back Jaden Bjorklund said his team already reached a crossroads.

South St. Paul returned only two starters — Bjorklund being one of them — from its 2013 squad that went 9-2 on its way to a Class 4A state tournament appearance.

And, breaking in 20 new starters, the Packers were handed a convincing, season-opening loss by Chanhassen, 27-13 at home on Aug. 22.

With conference rivals St. Thomas Academy and Mahtomedi next on the schedule, South St. Paul’s season could go one of two ways.

“It says a lot about these guys [on the team] which way we went,” Bjorklund said. “No one said that we’re going to let this one loss dictate how our season would go.

“We flushed it away, pretended like it never happened and moved on.”

The Packers won the next two weeks and haven’t lost since. They finished the regular season 7-1 and unbeaten in the Metro East Conference, taking their first outright league title in coach Chad Sexauer’s 11-year tenure, one that has seen South St. Paul become one of the metro’s premier Class 4A programs.

“As a coaching staff, we knew we had great kids — strong character and great athletes — but for them to come together and produce as quickly and as well as they have, it’s been just outstanding,” Sexauer said. “I’m happy for this senior class, but hopefully it shows the types of kids we have at South St. Paul and the coaching staff that I have here.”

Tough. Hard-working. No-nonsense. Focused.

That’s how Bjorklund and quarterback Dan Pietruszewski describe the South St. Paul team this season.

Pietruszewski, a junior, was one of the many new faces in this year’s starting lineup. There wasn’t pressure in replacing successful players from a year ago, he said. The atmosphere around the program eliminated that.

“We just look at it as our time, our chance to get in there and keep it going,” he said.

Pietruszewski has accounted for 18 touchdowns for the Packers, 11 on the ground. He has 498 rushing yards, second on the team to Bjorklund’s 661.

He and Bjorklund both quickly deflect any credit for the team’s success.

“We have it pretty easy,” Pietruszewski said. “Our [offensive line] makes such big holes. We just run through them.”

The offensive line, Bjorklund said, might be the best example of the Packers’ ability to reload. Senior center Cole Schneider was the only holdover from 2013. Guards Nick Heilman and Jordan Kieger and tackles Simo Peinovich and Joe Smith have all stepped in seamlessly, though.

It’s all about creating a simple, repeatable system, Sexauer said, that enables the Packers to adapt to each year’s new lineup.

After that opening loss to Chanhassen, South St. Paul made tweaks to its offense. It tossed out its split-back packages and put Bjorklund behind a lead blocker in an I-formation.

Other tweaks have come along the way, but one thing has stayed the same: the Packers’ path to success.

“We’re focused on the next game, one play at a time,” Bjorklund said. “We keep doing that, and we can keep going.”

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