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New season, new team, same result. The SMB Wolfpack have again started 1-0 after the 55-0 thrashing of the Saint Agnes Aggies. The offensive starters did not take snap in the second half after a 28 point first quarter and a 42 point half in total.

The leader’s of last year’s perfect regular season for the SMB Wolfpack, a co-op between St. Paul Academy, Minnehaha Academy, and The Blake School, have all graduated. Last year’s identity of a smash mouth running game and stifling defense went out the door with Jake Richardson (MA), Michael O’Shea, and Kyle Salverda.

A defense predicated on a strong defensive backfield led by Blake senior Will Bean held the St. Agnes Aggies off the scoreboard. Junior Jake Adams starts this year at defensive tackle after a strong sophomore season.

Freshman Jalen Suggs (MA) now holds the keys to a new look Wolfpack offense. They lost size and leadership on the offensive line and a deep threat on the outside with Dalante Peyton moving on to Winona State for basketball. But Suggs and Minnehaha sophomore Siegel Howard look to have created their own identity with more of a zone run scheme

“It’s a great honor [to be the quarterback]” Suggs said, “Everybody looks up to me and you’re kinda are the captain of the ship and like that a lot.”

Suggs captained that ship perfectly in the Wolfpack season opener. He threw two touchdown passes, one on a dazzling 15 yard fade dropped into the back corner of the endzone. Suggs showed poise from the shotgun and moved around the offense in different wildcard packages which confused the Aggies defense.

Siegel Howard built on a few strong games last season, specifically against Minneapolis South, with his start on Friday. Howard powered his way to four touchdown runs in the first half before the starters were pulled from the game. Howard averaged 5.3 yards per carry for 101 yards on 19 carries.

The biggest gulf in class between the two teams was on special teams. Will Bean was dominant on punt returns. Each time he went back to return a kick, he looked like he could have taken it back for six. The blocking was organized on every return and the coverage came up big on every kick off. Bean brought the opening kickoff of the second half back for six, a score that sat the starters down for the rest of the half.

Kicker Matthew Gibbons has a difference-making leg. The soccer player from The Blake School put every kick off deep and had no doubt on seven of his eight extra points, which could come in big down in the end of the season.

A new addition to the Wolfpack is SPA senior Weston Lombard. Lombard was aiming to come in and take the starting quarterback role, but with Jalen Suggs as a lock in the position, Lombard was forced to move to the other side of the ball and play linebacker. Lombard, more known for his role as the lockdown defender on the Spartan hockey team, standing just at six feet and well under 200 pounds is undersized for the position of linebacker.

“It’s not really how big you are,” Lombard said, “It is how big you play and even though I love playing quaterback, I also love to hit people, so I fell right into this role.”

The Wolfpack plays tonight at St. Paul Harding against St. Paul Johnson at 7:00. They are looking to go 10-0 all time in regular season games and 2-0 on the season.