Panthers face Truman in search of first win

Coming into the season, Park Hill South (0-2) knew they’d be tested right away against two high quality teams in Fort Osage and Blue Springs. Having played and lost those games, they head into Week Three looking to their next game against Truman as a key point in their season looking to rebound. Truman also comes into the contest with a 0-2 record after Liberty North scored a late touchdown to hand them a 12-6 loss last weekend. Head coach Mark Simcox says Truman offers the Panthers a more similarly-matched opponent than they’ve seen so far this year.

“They’re a lot more our speed, we match up a lot better with them,” Simcox said.

While he didn’t see his team play as well as he would have liked, Simcox did say he saw improvement in last Friday’s rain soaked, 35-14 loss to Blue Springs. They didn’t do themselves any favors either though as Blue Springs scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, the first of which came after the Panthers had a punt blocked on their first drive of the game. Both scores came from Blue Springs running back Dalvin Warmack who ended the game with 136 yards on 19 carries.

Things didn’t get much better in the second quarter as Blue Springs blocked another Park Hill South punt which resulted in a safety and a lost fumble led to another Blue Springs touchdown right before halftime increasing their lead to 27-0. Late in the game, Park Hill South was finally able to do what few teams in the metro were successful at last Friday: pass the ball. Quarterbacks Shaefer Schuetz and Carson Reid were both able to complete touchdown passes (82 and 21 yards) to put the Panthers on the border.

“We obviously allowed too many (points) and didn’t score enough, but last week we acted like we didn’t prepare very well and made an unbelievable amount of mistakes on both sides of the ball,” Simcox said. “This week, we got beat by a good team, but didn’t do a whole lot to help them out. So I think we made some big improvements and if we continue to do make improvements we’ll be fine.”

Park Hill looks to build on road trip

Park Hill (1-1) is preparing to move on to Week Three action at Lee’s Summit (1-1) after a particularly rough loss to Lee’s Summit West 33-7 last Friday night. Lee’s Summit is coming off a 34-17 loss to Kearney who pulled away with two fourth quarter touchdowns to decide what had previously been a close game.

“They (Lee’s Summit) have a two-year starter at quarterback and 220-pound junior who runs downhill that we need to stop before he gets to the second level,” Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds said. “I think we match-up pretty decent up front against them. If our linebackers keep improving we should be good there. If we take away the deep stuff and tackle, we should be ok.”

Even without the rain-soaked conditions that lasted throughout last Friday’s game, Park Hill knew they would have their hands full against a top-ranked Lee’s Summit West team. The Titans proved it almost immediately as Lee’s Summit West running back Ryan Williams took carries of 27 and 38 yards into the end zone for touchdowns on their first two offensive plays putting the Trojans down 14-0 just minutes into the game.

“They scored two touchdowns on the first two plays because of us not lining up right, which is unacceptable, can’t blame that on rain,” Reynolds said. “When you get down 14-0 on two plays, the wind is kind of taken out of your sail a little bit.”

With a 20-0 lead going into halftime, Austin Burau’s second touchdown of the night put the Titans up 26-0 mid-way through the third quarter.

“They were able to dominate us up front. The rain affected kind of what we wanted to do coming in being able to pass the ball early on,” Reynolds said. “The reality is as I told the kids afterwards, they’re at a level up here, and we’re down here right now.

Park Hill, still trying to find a rhythm offensively, was able to get on the scoreboard in the latter part of the fourth quarter. Following a Lee’s Summit West turnover, Park Hill took over at the Titan 12-yard line where sophomore Stefan McCarthy eventually ran in for a three-yard touchdown to give the Trojans a score.

The story of the game was dominance on the ground as Lee’s Summit West grinded out nearly 340 yards on the ground. Ryan Williams carried the ball 14 times for 138 yards rushing while DeMarcus Edwards added 97 yards of his own on nine carries. Park Hill was only able to produce 24 yards on 37 carries.

“We’re gonna have to do a better job of making passes. Right now we’re sitting under a 33% completion mark and for a spread offense that’s not very good,” Reynolds said. “We need to be running the ball better than we are if that is going to be the case.”

While Park Hill has a huge obstacle now behind them, the rest of the season features some evenly competitive match-ups, a number of which they believe are winnable.

“I think our last seven games are 50/50 games and I don’t think there is any one game we go into where we say ‘we should win this game’ or ‘we probably won’t win this game’,” Reynolds said. “We may be the underdogs in some cases, but we should have a chance to win.”

Fall Round-up: Aug. 27-Sept. 3

Park Hill South Swim/Dive

…competed in their first meet of the season last week at Rockhurst. The Panthers fell short of a team victory by a close score of 96-89 after losing the final event in the 400 meter free relay. Park Hill South won all but four events. Rockhurst also took first, second, third, and fourth in diving. Qualifying for state in their first meet of the season were Liam Huffman in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke, Tom Prinslow in the 200 freestyle, and Ian Morgan in the 500 freestyle. Overall, Coach Steven De La Piedra said they had a great meet and were more competitive than he expected as Rockhurst is one of the top swim programs in the state.

Park Hill South next competes at the Top Dog Duals and the Ozark Invitational this weekend.

Park Hill South Boys Soccer

…started their season with two high quality wins over some of the top teams in Kansas last week in the Olathe Tournament. The Panthers beat Olathe South Tuesday 2-1 before taking Blue Valley North to overtime and then penalty kicks where they took the victory that put them in the tournament’s title game. Brody Boullion, Adam Weatherly, and Alex Weatherly contributed the three Panther goals during the tournament. The title game was rained out. The Panthers now look to the KA-MO Tournament at Blue Valley North this week.

Park Hill South hosts Blue Valley Northwest on Wednesday and then travel to St. Joe Central Monday.

Park Hill South Softball

…the Panthers are off to a 6-2 start and come into this week on a four-game winning streak after sweeping their schedule last week. Park Hill South spread the St. Joe Central Indians 10-0 last Monday in five innings. Madison price threw a no-hitter, only allowing one player to reach base the entire game. Courtney Todd went 3-for-4 with Courtney and Mallory Land added two hits apiece. The offensive barrage continued against Liberty North in an 11-4 win for the Panthers. Madison Price recorded the win from the mound while Todd, Jordin Woodward, and Kylie DeClue hit home runs. Park Hill South ended the week in workman-like fashion racking up 15 runs in three innings against Ruskin. Alyx Hagen recorded the win and struck out 8-of-9 batters she faced.

The Panthers host Lee’s Summit West Thursday afternoon.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis

…improved to 3-1 on the year last week with two convincing wins over Oak Park and Staley. Adele Royle defeated both of her opponents to lead the Panthers with an 8-1 victory over Oak Park’s Margarita Akaiza and Staley’s Chloe Clement by a score of 8-0. She teamed up with teammate Shay Jackson for victories of 8-4 and 8-4. They travel to Fort Osage on Monday.

Park Hill Girls Golf

…after bringing home second place in the Liberty North Tournament, the Trojans continued their success last week with a convincing 201 to 276 match win over Winnetonka. Adrianna Elliott medaled in first place while Bailey Warlen took second place overall.

This week they play in the St. Joe Central Invitational Thursday before ending the week with a match against Park Hill South at the National.

Park Hill Volleyball

…after a solid victory over North Kansas City to begin the season, the Park Hill volleyball team lost to Liberty 25-21, 25-18 to bring their record to 1-1 overall.

Lindsey Grace and Lyndi Plattner lead the team in kills through four games with 11 each. Grace and Plattner also lead in aces served and blocks. The Trojans travel to Lee’s Summit Thursday and Lee’s Summit North Tuesday.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Boys Cross Country
... Park Hill finished sixth with 173 team points at the Liberty Invitational while Park Hill South finished just behind in seventhplace with 177 team points. Both teams will be at the Ray-Pec Invite this Saturday.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country
...finished in eighth placed with 182 team points at the Liberty Invitational. Madeline Homoly lead the Panthers with a team best 13:33 while Lizzy Jurries (13:49), Erica Guzman (14:10), and Audrey Rothers (14:14) were shortly behind. They'll next compete in the Ray-Pec Invite Saturday.