District finale is 'do or die' for Park Hill

Going into the final week of the regular season, Park Hill (5-4, 1-1) finds itself in the familiar position of looking to clinch a trip to the playoffs in their matchup with St. Joe Central (5-4, 1-1). With Staley punching their ticket to the Missouri state playoffs last week, there is now only room for one more team to advance from Class 5, District 12, as the front runner, and the winner in Friday’s matchup between Park Hill and St. Joe Central will secure that spot while the other’s season ends. The Trojans will be going up against an Indians team with a complex offense and physical defense, but while Park Hill may be considered a slight underdog, it’s a game they feel has its advantages for them.

“They’re a spread team and they’ll run a lot of different formations at us. They’ve got a good running back with good numbers. It’s going to be a good matchup up front,” Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds said. “Our kids believe this is the time of year we can do things. We take a lot of pride at Park Hill for what we do at district time. I think it’s a difference maker for our kids for them to know we’ve only lost 3 district games in 11 years. We put a lot of emphasis on it.”

In order for this Friday’s game to mean anything though, the Trojans had to take care of business last week against Oak Park. The Northmen, a young and inexperienced team, are going through one of their most unsuccessful seasons in quite some time and were 0-8 entering their district matchup with Park Hill. Currently going through their own stretch of tough losses, the Trojans knew the game relied more on what they did themselves, not the other team.

“We knew we couldn’t worry about anyone else. This was a chance to show everybody if they were having any doubts about what we do, that we know what we’re doing,” Reynolds said. “Our whole goal going in was to make sure next week’s game means something.”

The Trojans received a positive bump on offense as they got running back Jordan Wang back after he was sidelined for six weeks with an elbow injury. Wang put to rest any concerns about his concern as he rushed 18 times for 154 yards.

“We got our tailback back and our line probably blocked better than they have all year. We played well,” Reynolds said. “Defensively, we got banged up at some positions again, but for the most part we did our jobs in the first half.”

Park Hill jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the heels of two Chris Heustis touchdowns, one a one yard run and the other a nine yard reception from quarterback Tyler White, along with touchdown from Mitch Tittone. Heustis would finish the night with 12 carries for 76 yards and three receptions for 54 yards. White would throw go 6-6 with 99 yards passing. Jordan Wang and White added two more touchdowns before halftime to widen their lead to 35-7 after an Oak Park touchdown. Wang would add a 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter before freshman Stefan McCarthy put the final Trojan score on the board with his 12-yard touchdown run to increase the final score to 48-20. McCarthy finished the night with 11 carries for 81 yards and is the first freshman to score in a varsity game in recent memory for Park Hill.

“He came in and ran the ball very well. I told him we’ve never brought a kid up before the freshman season was over besides kickers,” Reynolds said.

But as Reynolds points out, it starts up front with the line. If the Trojans make the playoffs in 2011, it will partly be attributed to offensive and defensive lines that has endured and adjusted to injuries all season, forcing several players to move around filling gaps. Whether that comes as an asset or liability will show in a district finale that will most likely be determined in the trenches.