The annual King of the Hill football game this Friday
between Park Hill and Park Hill South takes on new significance with the two
squaring off in a regular season finale which could directly affect their
seeding in the district tournament, a new postseason format in Missouri, which starts
next week. Both the Panthers (4-4) and Trojans (3-5) are coming off close Week
Eight losses with Park Hill losing to St. Joe Central 32-29 and Park Hill South
losing to Liberty North 24-21.
Familiar with each team’s style of play, perhaps the main
point of preparation will be to maintain focus for a game that’s buildup has
players and students full of anticipation days and weeks leading up to kickoff.
Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox says his team can’t let the game against
their rival serve as the sole highlight or lowlight of their season.
“I told our kids a couple years ago that the sooner we quit
making a big deal about this game, we’ll be a lot more successful at winning
it,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox said about his team, which last year
beat the Trojans for the first time in seven years. “We can’t treat this any
different than any other game. We can’t allow this to be our season each year.
It’s a big game for our kids, our school, and community, but as far as
preparation goes there isn’t much difference.”
Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds’s focus was also on the season
as a whole and said big games usually have more to do with execution than what
the other team does.
“We have to worry about us,” Reynolds said. “It doesn’t
matter about anyone else.”
That’s not to say the teams haven’t been following each
other’s progress and already have an idea of what their strengths and
weaknesses are. Reynolds pointed to Park Hill South’s offense, which can go at
you on the ground and through the air, while Simcox says Park Hill has
gradually focused more on their run game throughout the season.
“They’re a very balanced offense because they have two
receivers who can run good routes,” Reynolds said. “They want to pound the ball
at you with their tailback.”
“They’re going back to the run game which is what they’ve
done for years, where they were more spread out to begin the year,” Simcox
said.
Last week Park Hill believed combining a bend, but don’t
break defense and steady offensive run game would give them the edge they
needed against a versatile St. Joe Central team. They briefly followed that
script to build a 14-0 lead in the first half, but it would be short-lived as
the Indians would battle back for a 32-29 win in a frustrating night for the
Trojans. Kenyatte Harris gave the Trojan running game a reliable hand as he
contributed three touchdown runs, ending the night with 191 yards on 25
carries. In the end, St. Joe Central would rack up 536 yards of offense against
the Trojans.
Reynolds said the hope he has for his young squad is that he
can look back and say they improved throughout the year and learned to
understand the game better.
“My only goal is that by Week 10 our kids have gotten better
than where we started,” Reynolds said. “Even with our seniors, I want them to
understand how to play the game.”
In Liberty
last week, Park Hill South did a good job of limiting Liberty North running
back Antwynn Beavers to just 78 yards, but left themselves vulnerable to the
pass in the close, down-to-the-wire game. The Panthers battled back from a 14-0
second quarter deficit to pull ahead of Liberty North 21-17 early in the fourth
quarter when quarterback Shaefer Schuetz connected with receiver Craig Scott
for a ten-yard touchdown pass, his second of the night. The Eagles would
respond with the game’s final scores though, a touchdown with about two minutes
to play which would hand the Panthers a 24-21 loss.
“We weren’t very good on offense in the first half and not
very good on defense in the second half,” Simcox said. “We were really
concerned about their running back so we did some things to make sure he didn’t
get away from us. We knew we would give up some in the passing game, but not as
much as we did.”
