Park Hill can't keep up in scoring dual

Park Hill (1-2) will look to recover Friday night against Truman (1-2) after a high-scoring affair which left the Trojans on the wrong side of a 46-24 loss to Lee’s Summit last week. Truman is coming off a close 19-15 loss to Park Hill South.  Truman, who only produced 121 yards of total offense last week, will present the first of several opportunities in the next couple weeks for Park Hill to get back on the winning track.

Park Hill jumped on the scoreboard first when quarterback Clay Ford connected with Lane Holmes for a 16-yard touchdown pass to put the Trojans up 7-0 early. Lee’s Summit would match that touchdown with one of their own to leave the teams tied 7-7 going into the second quarter.

Stefan McCarthy would put Park Hill up again 10-7 with a 19-yard field goal at the beginning of the second quarter. But Lee’s Summit would go on to score 20 unanswered points that would build a lead of 27-10 and eventually put the Trojans in a hole they could not dig out themselves out of. Ford would narrow the Trojans’ margin before halftime with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Arens. Lee’s Summit was up 27-17.

In the end, Park Hill was just able to stop Lee’s Summit nor answer their scoring. Lee’s Summit would build another lead of 20 point lead of 37-17 in the third quarter. Ford connected with Dondrell Hardiman for 16 yards and his third touchdown pass of the night early in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough as Lee’s Summit would record a safety and touchdown in the final minutes of the game to widen their final margin of victory to 46-24.

Park Hill gained 357 yards of total offense on the night and was led by Ford who finished the evening 15 of 30 passing for 284 yards. He spread the ball to five different receivers, three of which recorded more than 75 yards of receptions including Lane Holmes (83 yards), Austin Truvillion (76 yards), and Anthony Arens (75 yards).

South gets first win, ready to Homecoming

After their 19-15 win over Truman last week gave them their first win of the season, Park Hill South comes into this week’s Homecoming matchup against Ruskin looking to string back-to-back victories together to build much-needed momentum towards the second half of their season.

Ruskin (0-3) is coming off a 49-13 loss to Platte County last week where they were able to compile 203 passing yards and score on big plays.

“They’re athletic — they always are,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox said of Ruskin. “They’re going to be better than the previous week, and I’m glad we’re playing them towards the beginning of the season, not the end. It’s another home game for us, so we’re looking forward to Homecoming and all of the festivities that come with that.”

Simcox said clinching their first win was relieving so they can come into this week more comfortable and able to focus on the immediate opponent at hand.

“It’s going to allow us to relax a bit,” Simcox said. “Kids have expectations and they put a lot of pressure on themselves. When you lose you don’t feel very good about it, and we didn’t feel good about those first two losses.”

Park Hill South and Truman came into Friday night’s game looking like two similarly-matched teams. Truman established itself first with a steady and methodical initial drive which produced the first score of the game when Demetric Dinwiddie took a short handoff for a touchdown to put Truman up 7-0 late in the first quarter.

Things would continue to go Truman’s way as they intercepted a Shaefer Schuetz pass on the following drive and returned it 43 yards to the Park Hill South 30-yard line. But that would ignite the Panther defense. They proceeded to force a Patriots turnover on downs and limited the Patriots to only 61 yards passing and 62 yards rushing on the night.

Park Hill South’s offense took over and followed a consistent script in all three of the Panthers’ scoring drives — running back Myles Hammonds would carry the Panther offense down the field before Schuetz connected with receiver Craig Scott for a short-range touchdown pass. Hammonds, who gained 215 yards rushing on 45 carries, was playing in his first complete game since suffering an ankle injury last year.

“We’re a different team when we have him,” Simcox said. “I’m sure he got tired. When you have long drives that’s what happens.”

The Panthers first score would come late in the second quarter when Schuetz connected with Scott on a five-yard out pattern, good for a three-yard touchdown pass. The point after attempt failed, giving Truman a narrow 7-6 halftime lead.

Park Hill South continued with what worked in their first drive of the second half for their second score on the same play the Panthers scored with the previous time another Schuetz-to-Scott touchdown pass. Missing the point-after once again, Park Hill South edge ahead to a lead of 12-7.

“That particular short route, we look at as an extention of our run game,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox said. “That’s something we think we can get three or four yards from eight out of ten times. He (Scott) runs it really well and it’s hard to defend.”

Truman’s Dinwiddie would score again when he received the ensuing kickoff and took it 92 yards for a touchdown to put the Patriots back on top. With a two-point conversion, Truman went up 15-12 late in the third quarter.

Feeling some of their best offensive rhythm of the season, Park Hill South received the ball on the ensuing drive. This time it was Schuetz escaping the pocket athletically to get the ball to his top receiver, Scott, for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Park Hill South had regained the lead 19-15. Schuetz would finish 11-of-16 for 129 yards while Scott would record six receptions, 44 yards, and three touchdowns.

Looking to work the clock late in the fourth quarter, Truman forced a Panther fumble and turnover at the 2:38 mark earning themselves one last chance to regain the lead. Park Hill South would pull out all the defensive stops to gain the ball back and then use every means necessary to grind out the last seconds on the clock including a fake punt on their last play to finally clinch their first win of the season 19-15.

“Getting a win no matter how you get it is still better than the alternative,” Simcox said after the game. “Our kids feel so much better about what we’re doing. It’s always better to start a week by building on what you’ve done than fix things from the night before.”

Fall Round-up: Sept. 3-10

Park Hill South Boys Soccer
… took third place in the KA-MO Classic last weekend as they defeated Blue Valley 6-2 in the first round before losing to Shawnee Mission 3-0 on Friday night. In the third-place game the Panthers defeated Oak Park in penalty kicks (3-1) after both teams failed to score during regulation and overtime. Park Hill South is now 4-2 on the year. They’ll play next at Liberty on Thursday before traveling to Blue Springs South to start next week.

Park Hill Softball
…is hoping to end a three game losing streak this week after two 3-0 losses last week to Park Hill South and Blue Springs South. Now at 4-6 on the season, the Trojans host Lee’s Summit West Thursday before competing in the Platte County Invitational over the weekend.

Audrea Allen leads Park Hill in offense over the first couple of the season with a .484 batting average and 11 runs batted in. Pitcher Makenzie Porter has a 1.52 ERA and has racked up 22 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched.

Park Hill South Softball
…continues to roll through their schedule as they won all three of their scheduled games last week. The Panthers shutout rival Park Hill 3-0 to begin the week behind a complete game shutout from pitcher Madison Price. Jordin Woodward drove in all three runs, two of which were on a home run. Courtney Land went two-for-three in the win. Alyx Hagen followed Price’s complete game shutout with one of her own against Winnetonka as Park Hill South won 5-0 with Land contributing two homeruns and Jessica Lee driving in two more runs.

The Panthers ended the week in dramatic fashion when they defeated Lee’s Summit West 6-5 in extra innings. Woodward hit another home run and also drove in the winning run with a two-out based loaded single in the eighth inning. Previously Kylie DeClue drove in the run that tied the score in the seventh. Courtney Jackson recorded the victory from the mound.

Park Hill South comes into this week 9-2 on the year with home games against Platte County and St. Joe Central this week before competing in the Blue Springs South Tournament over the weekend.

Park Hill South Golf
…saw quality play last week as they started the week off with a win against Pembroke Hill at the Kansas City Country Club 200-213. The next day they competed at the Richmond Tournament where they finished fourth out of 18 teams. Lindsey Gile medaled with a ninth place finish out of 70 players in the field. They topped that with an even better performance the following day with a second place finish in the 20-team field at the St. Joe Central Tournament. Lindsey Gile finished in sixth place while Tarah Patneau finished in 10^th out of 80 players. Park Hill South’s scheduled match against Park Hill Friday was rained out.

Park Hill Boys Soccer

…improved to 5-1 on the year with a 1-0 win over Lee's Summit West Monday night. Matt Russell scored the Trojans' lone goal with an assist from Neal Sampson. Park Hill also staged a dramatic come from behind victory over Staley to start last week. Down 2-0 at halftime, Alec Fiest scored two goals on free kicks to send the game into overtime. It only took ten seconds for Neal Sampson to score the golden goal that gave the Trojans the 3-2 victory. Park Hill ended the week with a 2-1 win over Blue Springs Thursday night.

"Awesome game and a good start to conference play," Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said. "Great battle from both teams, but we were the dominant team especially in the second half. It was the most complete game from us this year."

Park Hill plays at Ruskin Wednesday evening before hosting St. Joe Central Thursday night before preparing for a big game against Oak Park at the end of the month that will be played at Livestrong Sporting Park on September 28^th.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…saw quality times at the Ray-Pec Invitational last week with a fourth place finish in the large school division. Erica Guzman led the Panthers with her 14^th place finish time of 21:14.20. Lizzy Jurries (19^th), Charlie McFarlane (20^th), and Madeline Homoly (21^st) came in not too far behind. Margaret McKeon (41^st), Allison Kelly (43^rd), and Madi Blinzler (45^th) rounded out the rest of the Park Hill South field.

They’ll next compete on September 20^th at the Grandview meet.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

Mercedes Robinson led Park Hill in the Ray-Pec Invitational last week with a 12^th place time of 20:50.50. Following her with Kim Rau (27^th), Brooke Bischof (33^rd), and Gianna Tutorino (36^th).

Park Hill will next compete in the Platte County Invite Thursday before preparing for the Rim Rock Classic September 22^nd.

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

…finished fourth out of seven teams in the Ray-Pec Invitational last week with Kainen Utt leading the way with his fourth place time of 17:09. Cain Winebrenner (15^th), Nate Thomas (17^th), and Hanok Tekle (18^th) followed Utt while Noah Barajas (30^th) and James Adams (35^th) rounded out the Trojan field. Park Hill competes this weekend in the Blue Springs Wildcat Invitational.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

Tucker Melles continues to impress as the Panthers top runner with his first place time of 17:23 in the Bishop Miege Invitational last week. Park Hill South also performed well as a team, clinching three of the top five placements with Gus Whitman (3^rd) and Keyan Lunders (5^th) seeing strong finishes. The pack of Eli Williams (13^th), Matt Robbins (16^th), Jacob Bowlin (17^th), and Isaac Frieden (18^th) finished out of the field of Park Hill South runners.

Park Hill Volleyball

…suffered two losses to Lee’s Summit West (2-0) and Lee’s Summit (2-1) last week before competing in the Winnetonka Tournament over the weekend where they tied for third place with Staley. Park Hill won matches against Oak Park (25-22, 25-15), Fort Osage (25-19, 25-21), and Winnetonka (25-19, 25-21). They tied in a match against Smithville (25-14, 20-25). The Trojans fell to Liberty in the tournament’s semifinals (25-15, 25-14).

“It was a great day for the girls and a great confidence builder for the rest of the season,” Park Hill coach Lindsey Hood said.

The Trojans are now 4-4-1 on the season and play at Park Hill South Thursday before competing in the Lee’s Summit North Invite over the weekend.

Park Hill Girls Golf

…brought home a first place trophy from the St. Joe Central Invitational last week. The Trojans 371 team score topped 16 other teams competing. Park Hill had two top-five finishes with Bailey Warlen placing third with her score of 83 while Adrianna Elliott placed fifth with a score of 84. Sydney Paulak’s score of 93 was good for a 12^th place finish. Jacque Yang (111) and Candice McCoy (118) rounded out the Trojans score card. Continuing their success to begin this week, they placed 3^rd of 19 teams in the Truman Invitational Monday.  They shot a team score of 274.  Elliott shot a 79, good for second place overall, Warlen placed eighth overall with her score of 88.

 

Park Hill is seeing one of their best starts to a season in recent memory as the Trojans hope to fine-tune their skills for an opportunity to clinch a conference title two weeks from now in the conference tournament September 24^th.

“It’s been a great start to the season, I’m very proud of the girls,” Park Hill coach Tari Garner said.

Park Hill South Swimming
...finished second for the second time in as many weeks to Rockhurst in the Ozark Invitational last weekend. New state qualifying times were cut by Liam Huffman in the 100 freestyle, Travis Colpitts in the 100 butterfly, Tom Prinslow in the 500 freestyle, and Ian Morgan in the 200 freestyle. They compete next against Liberty and Liberty North next week.

Park Hill Swimming...defeated St. Pius X (135-44), St. Joe Central (131-51), and Bishop LeBland (152-9) last week in their only scheduled meet. The Trojans took first place in all 12 events. Barry Chang qualified for state and broke a school record held since 1994 in the 200 individual medley. He also qualified in the 500 freestyle. Kyle Allen qualified for state in the 100 breaststroke. They host the Park Hill Invitational this weekend at the Park Hill Aquatic Center.