South continues losing skid, hopes to rebound in district opener

Park Hill South (3-4) gets to start anew this Friday as district play begins with a home matchup against North Kansas City (1-6). Although South lost to a tough Staley team last Friday 42-13, the Panthers have reason to be encouraged after they stayed within striking distance of the Falcons for a majority of the game. In a contest the Panthers will be heavily favored to win, they’ll have the chance to break a three game losing streak and begin the defense of the district title they won in 2010. North Kansas City is coming off a 51-14 defeat against Truman.

While Staley pulled ahead 14-0 early in the first quarter last Friday, South was able to post a score when Nick Gillespie caught a Carson Reid pass for a 55-yard touchdown reception. Staley quarterback Trent Hosick added a running touchdown in the second quarter to put Staley up 21-7 at halftime. Down, but not out against the top team in Class 5, Park Hill South was in position to make it a game in the second half.

Morgan Steward increased the margin for Staley with a 62-yard break away run for a touchdown in the third quarter, but the Panthers matched it when Alex Howe catch a 12-yard touchdown pass from Reid to make the score 28-13 going into the final quarter. But it was in that fourth quarter when Staley broke loose with Steward adding his second touchdown on 19-yard run. Rory Driscoll sealed the deal for Staley when he picked off a Reid pass and returned the interception for a 22-yard touchdown increasing the final margin to 42-13.

Last year, Park Hill South defeated North Kansas City 34-7 which was the beginning of a five game winning streak that propelled them to a district title and state quarterfinals appearance.

Trojans look to district play after steep loss to Lee's Summit West

It’s not something Park Hill (4-3) football fans want to get used to or see anything similar to anytime soon, but the Trojans’ 49-0 lose to Lee’s Summit West Friday night was the second straight home game in which they were unable to score. This followed a 42-0 lose to Jefferson City two weeks ago in a four week stretch where Park Hill faces three of the state’s top football programs. They’ll find themselves tasked with another tough test this week as they begin district play against the last of those three programs, Class 5’s top ranked program, Staley (7-0).

Staley is coming off a 42-13 victory over Park Hill South Friday. The Trojans defense will look to tame the Falcons’ quarterback-running back combo of Trent Hosik and Morgan Steward who combined for five of Staley’s six touchdowns last week. Steward is coming off an 18 carry, 219 yard performance last week while Hosik passed for 141 yards while running for 134 yards. Park Hill head coach Greg Reynolds said the Falcons are a very good team, but not to count the Trojans out after their lose Friday night.

“I don’t have that stat, but I know for a fact we don’t lose two games in a row too often. Not guaranteeing anything, but I think we’ll come back with a vengeance this week,” Reynolds said.

Park Hill will have plenty of motivation after Friday night’s tough loss to Lee’s Summit West. West jumped on the Trojans early and often as Morgan Strickland put two touchdowns on the board in the Titans first two possessions, one from seven yards out and the other a 15 yard run. He ended the night with 14 carries for 113 yards. When Park Hill was about to stop Lee’s Summit West for the first time, they received the ball deep in their own territory where a Tyler White pass was deflected into the air, intercepted by West’s Jaycie Pearson and returned for a touchdown putting them up 21-0 after the first quarter.

The Titans would score on three of their next four possessions to increase the score to 42-0 at halftime. Park Hill was unable to generate any substantial offensive production in the first half with only 43 total yards and their sole first down coming on the last play before halftime. On the other side of the ball, Lee’s Summit West racked up 270 first half yards. With the game’s outcome fairly evident coming into the second half, Reynolds was looking for something simple out of his team.

“Who doesn’t quit. That’s what I’m looking for. I just want to see kids play hard,” Reynolds said.

Lee’s Summit West would tag on another early second half touchdown before pulling their starters and letting the clock tick away on the 49-0 final score. Reynolds says his team has made progress since the beginning of the season, but because of the role key players have play, injuries to them have plagued the team more than in years past.

“I think we’re lining up better, that part of the game we’re doing alright,” Reynolds said. “This year we’re kind of built around a couple key guys that have not been playing due to injuries. When that happens you have to retool your whole defense.”

While each loss provides the chance to improve, the start of districts this week also allows for a fresh start.

“If you don’t learn something from each lose, then you loss an opportunity to teach a kid something. Everyone wants to talk about 100 wins, but I think I’ve been a better coach the day after from those 36 losses,” Reynolds said in reference to the Trojans record of 12 years. “I told the seniors after the game we’ve got three weeks to decide if we play a fourth week.”

Park Hill South takes title in Panther Classic

The Park Hill Trojans soccer team left the field at the Park Hill District Athletic Complex on Saturday with an unsettling and unfamiliar feeling following the championship game of the Park Hill South Panther Classic. That feeling came from the 3-0 loss they suffered at the hands of host school Park Hill South (12-6-1), the first such time they have not won the Classic since it started four years ago.

“We’re very disappointed. Since this tournament started we haven’t lost it,” Park Hill Coach Dustin Sollars said. “I think we’re disappointed in our own effort, especially since we did have the ball so much. I think they recognize they can do better.”

Park Hill’s loss was South’s gain and while the Trojans had possession of the ball on the Panthers side of the field for a good majority of the game, South was able to capitalize on break away opportunities to bust the game wide open in the second half.

“They (Park Hill) did a real good job of possessing the play and territory,” Park Hill South coach Joe Toigo said. “That’s not usually the way we like to play. All of our goals came on quick stuff.”

That tone was set almost immediately out the gate in the first half, when South got their first goal just a minute and a half into the game when South converted a re-start into the Panthers’ first goal. It would remain 1-0 at halftime before South tagged on two more late second half goals. Expectedly, the rivalry between the two teams began to show more signs of life in the second half when both increased their physicality.

“I told our players this is like a college game, it’s going to be physical and the refs aren’t going to call it a lot of the time,” Toigo said. “In the upper levels, many of those plays won’t be fouls.”

Toigo said his team has been focusing on playing with the mentality that the rest of their games are playoff games and hopes it will pay off when they actually do get into games where they face elimination.

“We talked about being prepared to play now like every play is the last,” Toigo said. “We can’t just turn it on October 31st for districts. It’s important to play the whole game as if it is the end of the season.”

Park Hill South defeated Winnetonka (7-0) and Ray-Pec (2-0) to advance to the title game while Park Hill beat Platte County (2-0) and Smithville (3-2, 2 OT). For Park Hill, the Trojans realize there’s a need to improve and judging by the long faces following the match, they’ll have plenty of motivation to make adjustments in case the two teams meet again in the postseason.

“If we don’t want to be a .500 team then we need to do better, we’ve had several games in our eight losses where we’ve controlled the possessions and lost,” Sollars said.

“We could see each other again in the playoffs,” Toigo said. “This was big for us, because we haven’t had much success against them in the past couple years, but we finally got to win our own tournament.”

Both teams will focus their efforts on the conclusion of their conference schedule, which both teams will be competing for title banners, before district tournaments begin at the end of October. Depending on results going forward, Park Hill and Park Hill South should find themselves in the top portion of the district seedings along with Oak Park who has been on an impressive winning streak over the past month.

Fall Roundup: Oct. 3 - 8

Park Hill Softball
…despite advancing to the title game the previous two seasons as a low seed, Park Hill was unable to reach it for a third last week as the second seeded Trojans were upset in the semifinals by Staley by a score of 21-7. The loss was particularly disappointing for Park Hill due to the fact they handedly beat the Falcons in their two previous meetings this season.

“They’re peaking at the right time. They were really good today,” coach Stuart Sullinger said of Staley. “They scored in every inning and we just couldn’t gain any traction.”

Even though their season was cut shorter than they would have liked, Sullinger says it doesn’t take away from what the team accomplished during the season, their first conference title since 1994.

“As bad as this game was, they can’t let it take away from what they accomplished this season,” Sullinger said. “This was a special group and they’ve always taken care of each other.”

Park Hill South Softball
…started off district play last week with an 11-1 victory over William Chrisman to advance to the semifinals against Winnetonka. The offensive spark wouldn’t last though as it was the Griffins who came out swinging the bats. Winnetonka’s 14 runs gave them plenty of breathing room to advance to a district title game appearance, ending Park Hill South’s season with a 14-4 victory. South ends the season with a record of 15-14.

Park Hill Girls Golf
…posted their best round of the year at the absolute best time as the Trojans shot a 374 in the sectional tournament last week. Although fourth place was not high enough to qualify the team for state, three of the Trojans top five golfers qualified as individuals. Anna Kloeppel and Adrianna Elliott’s score of 86 and Bailey Wharlen’s 96 were good enough to advance them to the state tournament in Sedalia next week.

Park Hill South Girls Golf
…placed fifth at the sectional tournament last week with a team score of 404. The Panthers’ top golfer was Sydney Sanders, whose 99 left her just three shots short of qualifying for the state tournament next week. Lindsey Gile and Kelli Mulligan tied for 27th place with their scores of 101.

Park Hill Boys Cross Country
…Joey Walton continued his season as the Trojans’ top runner as he took first place in the Suburban Conference Red Division race last weekend with a time of 16:32. Also placing high were Nathan Huffer who finished in seventh place and Kainen Utt who finished in ninth. Park Hill finished third overall, just three points shy of the second place finisher, Lee’s Summit West. They’ll next compete in the district race over the weekend.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country
…Kim Rau brought home the Trojans top girls finish in last week’s conference meet with her eighth place finish. Emma Gaiser followed with her 16th place finish while Maddie Bischof, Mercedes Robinson, and Libby Lund came in consecutively at 19th, 20th, and 21st. The team finished third overall. The district race is next for the Park Hill Cross Country teams this weekend.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country
…Tucker Melles continued his successful season with a first place conference finish last week, edging out Raytown South’s Daniel Worthington by a slim two seconds. Lendon Calhoun finished seventh along with Peter Thomas (11th), Mason Homoly (13th), Gus Whitman (16th), Barrett Hudson (22nd), and Westly King (23rd).

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country
…won their second straight conference championship last week by 17 team points in front of Winnetonka. Lizzy Jurries led the Panthers with her fourth place finish while Madeline Homoly came in sixth and Lauren Blair placed eighth. Other finishers included Erica Guzman (10th), Audrey Rothers (11th), Raven Jennings (13th), Rachel Evans (15th), and Kerry Maas (27th). They’ll compete next weekend in the district race.

Park Hill Volleyball
...saw two conference defeats last week against Lee's Summit West and Truman. Park Hill came out slow against Lee's Summit West and never recovered, falling by scores of 25-6, 25-11. They came up short in both sets against Truman losing by a score of 25-21 in both sets. The Trojans are now 9-13 on the season with an appearance slated at the Grain Valley tournament over the weekend.

Park Hill South Volleyball
...continued their tear through the regular season as they improved to 22-2 last week with wins against Winnetonka and Raytown. South handedly took the first match against Winnetonka Tuesday before dropping the second and coming back to seal the victory as they take two of three from the Griffins (25-14, 20-25, 25-17). The Panthers made quick work of Raytown, only giving up nine points in two matches (25-6, 25-3). They'll play Raytown South Thursday before heading off to their last weekend tournament of the year at Truman.

Park Hill Girls Tennis
…advanced past Kearney (5-0) and St. Joe Central (5-3) on their way a fifth consecutive district team title sweeping the team and individual portions of the tournament. Brooke Barnard won her second straight doubles title with Kaylin Lake by defeating St. Joe Central's doubles team in three sets 6-2, 0-6, 6-1. Suzanne Barth climbed through the singles bracket unscathed on the way to her individual district title. She defeated Alex Massey of Kearney in convincing fashion 6-0, 6-0. Barth, Barnard, and Lake all competed Tuesday in the sectional tournament for the right to advance to the state tournament. The team portion of sectionals will be held over the weekend at Macken Park.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis
…rolled through team district play last week, only losing one match, on their way to a district title. The top seeded Panthers defeated Fort Osage 5-0 before topping Liberty 5-1 in the championship round. The team will compete over the weekend in hopes of advancing to the team tournament next weekend in Springfield. Adele Royle and Marie Gehrke defeated Liberty's doubles pair by a score of 6-3, 6-3, advancing to individual sectionals at Rockhurst University which were still being played as of press time Tuesday evening. Emily Jackson and Addison Helling came in fourth and sixth place respectively in singles play. South ends their regular season with a 10-2 record.