Trojans look for first win against Ruskin after up and down game against Liberty

Coming off an uncharacteristic performance in a 35-14 loss in week one against Liberty, Park Hill will travel to Ruskin this Friday hoping to earn their first win of the season. They’ll be facing a Ruskin team newly consolidated with the former Hickman Mills High School and coming off a 45-6 thumping of Truman.

“I expect them to be a wide open team with a lot of speed and their line to be big enough to use it with the two schools combined,” Reynolds said. “If we can’t tackle then it’s not going to be just eight yard, but 80 yards.”

If there was one thing the Trojans took away from last Friday’s loss to Liberty, it was the importance of tackling. Liberty used its size advantage on the offensive line to utilize their quarterback and the option game to pick on the Park Hill defense. The Blue Jays methodically drove down the field several times in the second half which contributed in part to 29 points in four consecutive scoring possessions.

It was a tale of two halves for Park Hill as they went into halftime with a 14-6 lead after quarterback Nathan Wilson impressively found Trace Norfleet and De’Aris Flint for touchdown passes of 18 and 42 yards. Flint finished with seven receptions for106 yards while Wilson went 28 for 42 with 249 yards passing, some of the highest passing numbers for a Park Hill team in recent years. This has been mostly due to the Trojans’ historically strong running game which wasn’t able to build momentum against Liberty.

“We probably threw more tonight than any time in the last couple years,” Reynolds said. “There will be more passing than in the past, but no, we’re not going to throw that much. We still need to get the ball to two or three running backs we think are pretty good.”

Even with the passing game performance, the Trojans had several mental mistakes hurt them in the second half including dropped passes, a lost fumble, and a failed punt attempt. All of which followed a Liberty 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the half.

“We played a good football team, if you take away special teams and tackling, then it’s a lot closer game,” Reynolds said.

The Trojans believe they will improve as younger players become more comfortable and aren’t seeing the early season loss as a signal to go a different direction.

“I don’t think we’re going to have to change anything. Whether they believe it or not, some guys came in and doubted themselves tonight,” Reynolds said. “We found out in the first half that this is fun and worth all the hard work though.”