Park Hill beats Columbia Hickman, faces talented Liberty team

Liberty, at 3-0, will provide a tough test for the Park Hill Trojans (2-1) this Friday before going into conference play next week. Liberty is currently ranked as one of the top teams in the state with high expectations. Last year, Liberty bested Park Hill 38-14. The Trojan defense will have to make the difference by containing a Liberty offense that includes several different looks and strengths.

“We watched some tape of them (Liberty) in our preparation for Hickman,” head coad Greg Reynolds said. “The combinations they run with the option will put some pressure on our defense.”

Park Hill comes off a win last week against Columbia Hickman where they displayed their ability to convert turnovers into points. This led the Trojans to a 31-28 victory in their home opener.

The Trojans started the first drive from their 20-yard line. On the first play, Josh Eatman took the handoff 50-yards to the Hickman 30-yard line before Sean Gorman next went in for a 30-yard touchdown. Hickman struck back with a 3:07 66-yard drive capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run by QB Matt Herman. Other than a Herman pass being intercepted by Park Hill counterpart QB/DB Corey Sterling in the second quarter, both teams exchanged drives and missed field goal attempts before going into halftime with a tied score of 7-7.

A huge sack on fourth down by Park Hill defensive end Bryan Dale gave the Trojans the ball and with 6:45 left in the 3rd quarter Josh Eatman took a handoff to the house for a 66-yard touchdown run. Eatman finished with 18 carries for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“After last week, he was disappointed in not getting as many carries,” Reynolds said. “He had a great week of practice, came out and really showed what he can do.”

Hickman responded again on the next drive with a deep Herman pass to Wesley Leftwich for a 55-yard touchdown pass. After a stalled drive and Park Hill punt, Herman took a 2nd and 3 snap looking to pass, but Park Hill LB De’Aris Flint stripped the ball from him allowing DE Steven Clark to recover for the Trojans. Eatman streaked through the Kewpie defense on the first play for a 17-yard touchdown run. Herman threw a second consecutive interception on the next drive when LB Daniel Jessen snagged his pass out of the air.

Although Hickman QB Herman had four interceptions on the night, his ability to hide the ball hurt the Trojans, especially with 9:44 in the fourth quarter when his play action pass hit Dominic Price for a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Kewpies used that momentum to stop the Trojans’ next drive and get the ball back. Using it to their advantage, they struck with 4:13 left in the game when Josh Williams ran for an 11-yard touchdown run. The point-after put Hickman up 28-21.

On the Trojans’ next drive, Adrien Esaw stepped up on 4th and 3 with a 41-yard reception from Sterling. Three plays later it was Sterling sneaking the ball in for the 1-yard touchdown to tie the score 28-28 with 2:02 to play.

Hickman began driving before Herman threw a 2nd and 10 pass, which was intercepted by De’Rion Rambo who returned it to the Hickman 24-yard line with 47 seconds left. After several shots at the end zone, Park Hill called their final timeout allowing Neal Sampson to kick the game winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining.

“We got the ball to our offense when we needed to,” Reynolds said. “Some kids made mistakes early, but came back to make big plays late in the game.”

The close win gives the Trojans some confidence as they prepare for Liberty, but Reynolds looks to it as an opportunity to get better before conference and districts start.

“We’ve got to get better and we tell our guys that the first four weeks are about getting better and ready because week 5 starts conference,” Reynolds said.

Park Hill beats Park Hill South in 2OT thriller

Who said soccer wasn’t a contact sport? It certainly was last week as Park Hill took on Park Hill South with a packed Park Hill District Stadium on hand. With half the stands peppered purple and the other red, fans were able to see what has turned into one of top soccer rivalries in the area.
An evenly balanced game throughout the first half included several opportunities for both teams, but quality saves by goalkeepers Shane VanHooser of Park Hill and Kurt Ehlers of Park Hill South kept the score 0-0 going into halftime.

“We had a lot of opportunities one on one with their goalkeeper,” said South coach Joe Toigo. “A lot of their shots came from a distance.”
No love was lost in the second half. Both teams received multiple yellow cards after small pushing matches occurred at various points. Park Hill coach Dustin Sollars talked about how very little it matters which team is better from year to year. A very successful team can come in and it’s always close no matter what.

“Throw everything out the window for Park Hill and Park Hill South, and hope you can make it through with as few cards and little blood as possible,” Sollars said.
South started off the second half aggressively, this led to Michael Combs receiving a ricocheted ball off the post and putting it in for a goal at the thirty-seven minute mark. The Panthers controlled the ball for the majority of the second half, but the Trojans added some late theatrics to the game when David Zdvorak used a free kick to assist Quenton Noble with a score with three minutes to play. Regulation ended with a score of 1-1.
Both teams came up empty in two overtime periods, which led to a series of penalty kicks to decide the match. An enthusiastic crowd was on their feet as each kick resulted in one half of the stadium erupting in enthusiasm while the other groaned. After a South miss on the fourth round of five penalty kicks, Park Hill’s Ray Lee scored what would be the game winner. VanHooser saved the day, as the public address announcer said so many times throughout the night, when he blocked Cody Mortensen’s kick from going into the goal to give the Trojans a 2-1 victory via 4-3 in penalty kicks. Trojan faithful went crazy as the players celebrated on the field, and then came to thank their loyal fans for enduring the two and a half hour match.
“I thought we played well, but lost our composure at the end,” Toigo said. “No matter if we win or lose, we’re always looking for things to work on.”

After last week’s game, both Park Hill and Park Hill South come into this week with records of 3-3. Both teams face strong schedules throughout the season, including against each other, which will allow them to face top competition between conferences games leading into district play.

For Park Hill, the game against South was their third game in three days and it could have been an easy let-down game, but the adrenaline of playing their rival gave them an extra boost.

“I think that’s one of the reasons our guys were able to step up and play tonight,” Sollars said.