Park Hill looks to clinch district title, South still alive in playoff race after matchup last week

When Park Hill and Park Hill South come together to play, you realize exactly why Park Hill District Stadium has dedicated one end-zone to a solid purple and the other, a bright red. You wished that every high school football player had the opportunity to play in a rivalry game like last Friday’s, when you saw Trojan red across from Panther purple in a matchup between two district rivals.
The nostalgia ended there though, as the game’s first sparks happened quickly. On the second play from scrimmage Park Hill’s Sean Gorman powered through the South defense for a 64-yard touchdown run. Both teams exchanged two three-and-out drives before South punted again with about 2:30 left in the first quarter before it landed at the 27-yard line where the ball hit a Trojan blocker. South picked up the ball and ran it in for what some thought was a touchdown. Officials ruled the ball was dead and PHS would gain possession at the spot. Four plays later Chris Hamilton connected with Aaron Williams for a 19-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.
Soon after, PH’s Corey Sterling hit Nick Hughes for a 36-yard pass to set up Gorman, who dove into the end-zone for his second touchdown of the night. Several penalties and turnovers throughout the game prevented South from getting into the offensive rhythm they had hoped for. With a slip-screen in mind late in the first half, South’s Hamilton floated a pass into the hands of Park Hill’s DL Mark Rollison for an interception which allowed the Trojans to go six plays in 1:04 to score on a Corey Sterling touchdown run. The score was 21-7 with Park Hill up at the half.

“We ran the ball well and got some long drives that we may not have finished, but we ate a lot of clock,” Park Hill’s Greg Reynolds said.
South wasn’t able to convert two Park Hill fumbles into points late in the second half. Their closest opportunity came with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter. With the end-zone in sight and the ball on PH’s 15 yard line, Hamilton bobbled a bad snap allowing Park Hill’s Adrien Esaw to recover the fumble for the Trojans.

“Adrien stepped in and played really well, made some good breakups,” Reynolds said.

But the fourth quarter belonged to Trace Norfleet when he turned on the speed with touchdown runs of 66 and 59 yards. Norfleet finished with 15 carries for 202 yards along with Gorman’s 18 carries on 149 yards. As a team, they collected 415 yards rushing while only completing two passes. South added a touchdown with seconds to play when Hamilton passed to Kevan Reardon for a 22-yard touchdown grab. The final score, 35-13, improved Park Hill’s record to 7-1 while Park Hill South fell to 4-4 on the year.
This Friday, Park Hill will host Oak Park (3-5) who beat St. Joe Central (2-6) last week in a very low scoring game, 7-6. A win will secure a play-off spot for the Trojans. Last year, the Trojans pulled out a close win at Oak Park by a score of 17-14.

“Oak Park is going to be riding high after their win, and we’re going to have to handle them by worrying about ourselves and getting healthy,” Reynolds said of the Northmen.

Park Hill South, with wins in its final two games can still be playoff bound, travels to St. Joe Central. Last year, the Panthers lost to the Indians 42-35.