Panthers, Trojans set sights on 'King of the Hill' rivalry

Head coaches Greg Reynolds of Park Hill (2-0) and Mark Simcox of Park Hill South (1-1) respond almost identically when asked of the significance of this Friday’s matchup between their two teams in the annual ‘King of the Hill’ football matchup between the Park Hill School District’s two high schools. As a game with no conference or district implications on the line, both take a similar approach to the rivalry that awards gridiron bragging rights for another school year.

“We’re trying to make it just like any other game, because it really is. Our goals and expectations are beyond just winning this game,” Simcox said. “I’m not naive to its importance to the community and the kids, but we want to beat Park Hill just like we want to beat every other team we play against.”

While Park Hill has dominated the series over the last decade with an impressive 10-1 all-time record against the Panthers including a 19-6 victory last season, Park Hill South is hoping to become more established in Simcox’s second year at the helm after coming off a 2010 campaign in which they won a district title and advanced into the Missouri state playoffs. Park Hill’s 2010 resume holds the same credentials and if things work out the way both teams would like, this Friday’s matchup could also be a preview of a postseason meeting in November. The coaching staffs and programs couldn’t be more familiar with each other which bring the importance of execution even more to the forefront in what will surely be a stadium environment buzzing with enthusiasm.

“I know what they’re going to run, they know what they’re going to run, everyone in the stands knows what they’re going to run. It doesn’t make it any easier though,” Simcox said of Park Hill. “We have to be physical because they’re going to be.”

“We know they’re going to try to stop our run game. They’re going to run the ball and have a pretty good short passing game,” Reynolds said of South. “It’s going to be a dog fight up front.”

Park Hill comes into this week after a 23-0 win over Ruskin in a contest where the Trojans were able to capitalize on several mistakes and turnovers. An early first quarter safety followed on the next drive by an Eddie McDonald one yard touchdown run put Park Hill up 9-0 in the opening minutes. An second quarter Gage Wright interception gave the Trojans the ball with a short field allowing Chris Heustis room to run six yards for a touchdown. The 16-0 lead was increased in the third quarter when McDonald dashed 64 yards into the end zone for Park Hill’s final score. McDonald had 144 yards on the night while Heustis muscled out another 102 yards. Reynolds praised his defense for limting a Ruskin offense known for its big play potential to just 135 total yards and is happy with his team’s progress this early in the season.

“That’s probably what I’m most proud of is that we didn’t give up any real big plays. For us, where I thought we’d be three weeks ago, we’re in a very good place,” Reynolds said.

Starting tailback Jordan Wang suffered a dislocated elbow early in Friday night’s game which will sideline him anywhere from six to ten weeks. McDonald will move into the starting role for Park Hill, which Reynolds says will shift the team’s running strength, but not their overall offensive scheme.

Park Hill South went up against an established and tough Blue Springs South program last Friday where several special teams mistakes put the Panthers at an early disadvantage. A Panthers punt on their opening possession was returned 41 yards for a touchdown by Steven Sullivan before Panther Myles Hammond matched the score at 7-7 with a one yard touchdown run, his first of two scores on the night in addition to his 178 yards on 40 carries. The ensuing kickoff was returned by Blue Springs South’s Ben Harvel for a 92-yard touchdown before Eddie Sola was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone which resulted in a safety. The Jaguars once again took the following kickoff back for a 69-yard touchdown return putting them up 23-7 going into halftime. Sullivan added two more touchdowns in the second half increasing Blue Springs South’s lead on the way to a 37-14 loss for Park Hill South. While the score may not have indicated the positive qualities of the Panthers play, including a 271 yard offensive night, it does signify the importance of the small things.

“We did a few things well enough to put ourselves in a position to win, but it goes to show if you don’t cover the details it can kill you,” Simcox said. “When you give up 21 points on special teams and a safety, it makes it hard to win against good people.”

Friday’s matchup will be featured live on television as the Metro Sports High School Game of the Week starting at 7 p.m.

Fall Roundup: Aug. 29 - Sept. 3

Park Hill Volleyball
.... started off the season last week on a down note with two losses to Northland teams. Starting off against Liberty, the Trojans fell in two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-17. They came out of the gate roughly later in the week when they were only able to put four points on the board against Oak Park in their opening set. Park Hill was able to come back and when the second set 25-20 before falling 25-14 in the final set. Coach Lindsey Hood says the Trojans are working through some early seaso injuries, but is keeping a positive attitude. Park Hill now 0-2 travels to Lee's Summit West this week before competing in the Winnetonka Tournament.

Park Hill Softball
... after a 3-2 performance in the Greater Kansas City Tournament two weeks ago with big wins against St. Thesa's, Kearney, and Staley, the Trojans offense continued to excel in one of their preseason points of emphasis, hitting, with a second thumping of Staley last week. This time a 13-2 victory on the heels of big doubles from Lexie Santoyo, Samantha Snodgrass, and Bethany Sullinger, who also added a home run. Park Hill fell to last year's state runner-up Truman in a close 3-2 game which saw the Trojans test Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year pitcher Paige Parker with a close 1-1 game going into the sixth inning. Park Hill is 4-3 coming into matchups against Park Hill South and Liberty this week.

Park Hill Girls Golf
...continue to see early season success with two wins last week. Anna Kloeppel and Adrianna Elliott led the way with scores of 43 against Winnetonka as their collective 190 team score edged the Griffins. It was Kloeppel once again with a 44 as Park Hill beat Staley. The Trojans will compete in the St. Joe Central Invitational next week before an anticipated match against Park Hill South Friday at the National Golf Club.

Park Hill South Girls Golf
... battled Liberty to a 204 tie last week at Liberty Hills Country Club. Liberty's Marissa Juliana led the field with a score of 39. The tie-breaker went to the Panthers though as their fifth player bested Liberty's 57-60. South competed in a four team match at the National featuring Lee's Summit West, Ray-Pec, and St. Joe Central. The Panthers came in second to Lee's Summit West's 183 team score with their 191. A packed schedule this week includes the Richmond Invitational, match at Ray-Pec and Notre Dame De Sion, the St. Joe Invitational, and concluding with a home match against Park Hill, Oak Park, and Truman.

Park Hill Boys Soccer
... knew the Olathe Tournament would be a good early season test and it proved to hold true as they coming out of the tournament and into this week with a 1-2 record. In a game closer than the eventual 2-0 score would lead to believe, Park Hill fell to eventual tournament champ Shawnee Mission Northwest in the opening round. They fell to Blue Valley North later in the week by another 2-0 score. Tim Hay got the Trojans on the scoreboard first in 2011 when he scored their first goal of the year against Oak Park on Saturday. Matt Russell added second on the way to a 2-1 victory. Park Hill plays at Liberty before traveling to Springfield over the weekend to play Kickapoo and Glendale.

Park Hill South Softball
.... added two quality conference wins last week as they racked up the runs against Fort Osage in a 14-4 victory. They followed it up with a close 4-3 victory over Raytown. They host Raytown South and Park Hill this week.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis
... pulled in three wins against high quality opponents last week. Adele Royle led the Panthers with solid and wide-margined victories in all three of her singles matches and teamed up with Marie Gehrke to wins all three of their top doubles matches as well. As a team, South defeated Lee's Summit West 6-3, Liberty 5-4, and Blue Springs 7-2.

Park Hill Girls Tennis
Park Hill girls tennis was defeated in their only match last week as they fell to St. Theresa's Academy. Coach Tim Kalis sees their difficult early schedule as a positive thing and given them the opportunity to address several areas in which they'll need to improve over the course of the season.

"The nice thing is we've really been working on being more aggressive. It's really been trial by fire so far," Kalis said. "Collectively as a team, we're playing good teams so it's given us more things to work on."

The competition won't be getting any easier as the Trojans travel to Columbia this week to play in the Rockbridge Invitational followed by a match with Lee's Summit West. They'll start next week off with what shapes up to be an interesting matchup with Park Hill South. Kalis says South will offer another early season test as a team that also has some high quality athletes.

"I think the match against Park Hill South will be awfully good," Kalis said. "Adele Royle, their number one, is a great player and competitor. Her and Suzanne (Barth), our number one, will be a good match. I think our number two's and three's line up pretty close as well."
 
Park Hill South Boys Soccer
... saw mixed results in the Olather Tournament last week as they went 1-1-1 to start off the season. A 2-0 defeat against Olathe Northwest in their opener led to a 3-2 victory over Oak Park in which the Panthers were up 3-0 before giving up two goals towards the end of regulation. They concluded the tournament with a tie that resulted after a 0-0 score followed two scoreless overtime periods before lightning postponed the game and the opportunity to decide the match with penalty kicks. They travel to Springfield this weekend for games against Kickapoo and Glendale. Coach Joe Toigo says it wasn't a bad start and is starting to see his team come around.

Park Hill South Boys Swim and Dive
.... started the season in a big way last week with a 192-122 win over Lee's Summit West. In their first meet they were already able to qualify five for state including Daniel Day in the individual medley and 500 yard freestyle, Tom Prinslow in the 500 yard free, Liam Huffman in the 100 yard backstroke, Jacob Little in the 100 yard breast stroke and Spencer Moran in diving. On top of that, their 200 medley and 400 free relays qualified. Also gaining first place finishes were Spencer On in the 50 free and Huffman in the 100 yard butterfly. South travels to Springfield to compete in the Top Dog Duals and Ozark Invitational over the weekend.