Panthers easily handle Northmen

Scoring in just about every way imaginable in their 56-8 stomping of Oak Park last Thursday in the opening round of district play, Park Hill South (6-4) now looks to their matchup with the Kearney Bulldogs (6-3) Wednesday night in the district semifinals. The Bulldogs received a first round bye and will be well rested to host the Panthers. Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox says his team will face an opponent with a long history of success, but one he can also see glimpses of his own team in based on the balance of their offenses.

“They’re used to winning and they’ll expect to win, no question about that,” Simcox said. “We haven’t played them in a long time so we’re going to have to study up a bit. In some ways they’re a lot like us on offense. They run more of a double-slot where they’re able to do what the defense gives them, so they’re pretty balanced.”

That balance was on full display last week in their opening round playoff game against Oak Park. If there was any doubt Park Hill South would be able to carry the momentum from their 45-14 win over Park Hill last week into this week’s first round district game against a struggling Oak Park team, it was quickly put to rest.

“We want to be efficient and we know we can’t be on an emotional high every week, but it can’t affect our efficiency,” Simcox said of coming off the previous week’s rivalry game.

The Panthers stuck with the legs of running backs Myles Hammonds and Ronnie Bertelsmeyer to rack up a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Bertelsmeyer punched in a two-yard touchdown run in between Hammonds touchdown runs of 4 and 37 yards. That lead would eventually build into a 35-0 at halftime after Hammonds added his third touchdown and receiver Nick Griffith pulled in a 62 yard pass from quarterback Shaefer Schuetz.

Runs of 20 yards from Craig Scott and 15 yards from Corey Land produced two more touchdowns in the second half to widen their lead to 49-0. With a running clock in the second half, Oak Park was able to put their first points of the game on the board when Joe Anderson took a double handoff that went 25 yards for a touchdown.

Freshman Collin Faro posted the game’s last points with a two yard touchdown run in the game’s final minutes to bring the contest’s final score to 56-8. The Panthers would combine for 467 yards of offense and did so fairly evenly between their playmakers as Hammonds ended the night with 97 yards on nine carries while Bertelsmeyer compiled 67 yards from seven carries. Scott who added a touchdown on the ground, caught five passes for 115 yards.

Simcox talked about his team’s depth and how that has helped them not only fill in when injuries occur, but also how it creates options to spread the ball around.

“That’s the advantage of having numbers to where kids are competing against each other in practice for positions, for playing time,” Simcox said. “In a game like this one, it really pays off.”

Harold Wayne Pepper: 1929-2012

Harold Wayne Pepper, 83, left this Earth to go to his Eternal home on October 28, 2012.  Born May 24, 1929 on the family homestead north of Weston, Missouri, he was the only child to the late Aneta Steele and W.B. Pepper Jr. While growing up, Harold helped his father work the same family farm five generations of his family had previously.

He was a lively boy and enjoyed telling stories about his youth and the ornery adventures he and his friends had.  He attended the Salem Christian Church in his earlier years, where his father was the long-time Sunday school superintendent, and attended Weston schools where he graduated from in 1948.

He married Martha Jean Lawrence on December 15, 1950 at the First Christian Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. They celebrated their 61^st anniversary last year.

Harold was a veteran of the Korean War where he saw combat action. Private Pepper was a member of the 780^th Field Artillery Battalion. He was later promoted to Corporal, earning three service stars and a Meritorious Achievement award. 

When his tour of duty ended in 1953, he returned home to farm the land he grew up on, hauling livestock, water, and even raising cattle for a period of time. He would make this his life’s work. In 1954, he and Jean had their first child, Dan, followed by their second, John, two years later. Dan and John grew up working the farm alongside Harold, just as he had with his father. Harold was also a member of the Masonic Lodge A.F. & A.M. in DeKalb.

Harold loved spending time with his family, talking about tractors, tools, and the history of Weston. He was a man of simple tastes; enjoying a warm cup of coffee or cold beer, reading various local newspapers, driving his truck, and catching up in conversation. He will be remembered for his unique laugh and sense of humor, interest in agriculture, and love for animals.

Harold is preceded in death by his parents Aneta Steele and W.B. Pepper Jr., and long-time beloved pet cats Teetle and Peanuts.

Harold is survived by his two doting and caring sons, Dan Pepper and wife Kris of DeKalb, MO and John Pepper of Kansas City, MO.  He has four grandchildren, Rachel Pepper and Jason of Platte City, MO, Hannah Thornton and Matt of St. Joseph, MO, Matt Pepper of Kansas City, MO, and Ben Pepper of Kansas City, MO.  He also has one step great granddaughter, Aubrey Thornton. 

The family will receive friends on Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 10 a.m. at Vaughn’s Funeral Home in Weston, Missouri followed by a funeral at 11 a.m. to celebrate his life.  Interment, with military honors, will be at Mount Bethel Cemetery, Weston, Missouri. 

Memorial donations may be provided to the Missouri Veterans Home in Cameron, Missouri.

SPCAD encounters permit obstacle with Parkville

Approximately three weeks into their contract as the ambulance provider for the Southern Platte County Ambulance District, American Medical Response (AMR) says the welcome they’ve received from the community has been with arms wide open as they work to introduce themselves to local residents. But it hasn’t been without its hiccups AMR operations manager Cam Hendry reported to the district’s board of directors at last week’s regular meeting.

The main obstacle AMR has experienced so far is occupying the space they have leased in Parkville at the Bell Road Industrial Park from which to base their operations. AMR briefly moved in before learning of a requirement to obtain a conditional use permit from the City of Parkville. Intending to stage living quarters on the property for their paramedic teams overnight and store their ambulances, the intended use does not meet the approved zoning. Until the permit is issued, AMR cannot occupy the space and has been staging their units out of the nearest overnight venue available, which a motel outside and north of the district off Prairie View Road, near Barry Road.

“Right now that is the biggest culprit,” board president Bobby Kincaid said.

Parkville Acting City Administrator Sean Ackerson says the property owner has submitted an application for a conditional use permit to allow dwelling units within an industrial zone and that a hearing is scheduled.

“They are wanting to move into the Bell Road Industrial Park, which is predominantly zoned industrial,” Ackerson said. “Per municipal code they need a conditional use permit for the use, particularly the living quarters. I’d describe their use as fire department-like in that they have both habitable space as well as the garage function.”

The hearing on the permit will be held October 30^th. If action is taken, it would then go to the board of aldermen for final approval on November 6^th. Hendry said the proximity to the intersection of Highway 45 and Highway 9 in Parkville is most ideal, but would be open to all options if an arrangement could not be reached with the landlord and City of Parkville.

Another topic covered at the meeting was response times, which was one of the main factors in switching ambulance providers in the first place. Hendry provided a report to the board of all emergency calls and responses placed in the month of October. Kincaid expressed concern over some complaints he had personally received about response times, but those were cleared up by how the data is measured. Hendry noted that meeting the nine-minute average response time in AMR’s contract is based off the time between when a call is received and an ambulance arrives to the scene, not the time it takes to respond to the scene and then potentially transport a patient to an emergency room.

“They’re meeting the response times called for in the contract. We don’t want to see anyone lose their life due to an ambulanace, it’s very important to me and the rest of the board,” Kincaid said. “They (AMR) are going to do everything they can do make sure that happens, where the Fire Department in the past had not.”

The board also welcomed news of strong cooperation between AMR and bordering jurisdictions, which had been a particular concern in regards to the Kansas City Fire Department who previously held the service contract. AMR is still in negotiations with KCFD and the Northland Regional Ambulance District (NRAD) for mutual aid assistance should the situation call for it.

Park Hill South claims second straight King of Hill title

After a decisive 45-14 Park Hill South victory over Park Hill at last week’s King of the Hill rivalry game, the Panthers and Trojans now head into Week Ten, the first round of district play, where each will be faced with the situation of winning to advance or losing to end their season. Park Hill South (5-4) notched the third seed with their win and will host sixth seeded Oak Park (1-8). Park Hill (3-6), the fifth seed, will travel to fourth seeded St. Joe Central (5-4) in a rematch of their contest two weeks ago where the Indians pulled out a 32-29 victory.

It took a full quarter for both teams to shake off what might be described as the adrenaline of the rivalry atmosphere before the first points were posted last Friday night. After being denied on a fourth and goal play late in the first quarter, Park Hill South would come back on the next drive with a short field to score on a four-yard touchdown run from Myles Hammonds to give them a 7-0 second quarter lead. Park Hill would struggle to gain offensive momentum most of the night, particularly in the first half, but their defense would hold Park Hill South to a modest 10-0 half lead after the Panthers added a 34-yard field goal late in the second quarter.

“We thought that if we could run at them early and be physical with them, it could pay off,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox said. “Defensively, we wanted to take away what they wanted to do by stopping the run.”

Park Hill South did just that by building a first half lead, putting the pressure on Park Hill to create momentum coming out of the locker room for the second half. It would be Park Hill South turning up the heat though, as they scored touchdowns on all four possessions of the third quarter to build an insurmountable 38-7 lead going into the fourth quarter. Through the air and on the ground, the Panthers displayed one of their most balanced offensive performances of the year. True to form, Park Hill South would use the legs of Hammonds to run the ball to set up the four scores that Panthers receivers Logan Gillespie, Craig Scott (2), and Robert Lane would pull in for touchdown receptions. Hammonds would end the night with 184 yards on 27 carries.

“If we can keep them from cheating on our run game, we can run it. If they cheat, then we’ll throw it to the outside,” Simcox said. “The game’s always a little bit easier on offense when you can do a little bit of both.”

Park Hill’s lone score until late in the fourth quarter came from a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kenyotte Harris in the third quarter.

But Park Hill’s defense just couldn’t stop the resilient Park Hill South offense as the Panthers would cap off the third quarter scoring their fourth straight touchdown in as many drives. Ronnie Bertlesmeyer would put the icing on the cake with a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter to extend Park Hill South’s lead to 45-7.

Quarterback Clay Ford would add a short touchdown run in the game’s final minutes to narrow the margin to 45-14. The night would be the Park Hill South’s though as the Panther faithful stormed the field to celebrate clinching their second King of the Hill title in as many years. Simcox told his team following the game that he hoped it was an opportunity for the program to look forward to bigger things.

“Because we’ve lost so many games to them over the years, it’s hard for our kids to get over it,” Simcox said. “As a program, we have to look to bigger things. This will always to be big, just as long as it doesn’t affect your next game.”

Fall Roundup: Oct. 15-22

Park Hill Soccer 
…following their early week win over Park Hill South 1-0, the Trojans went to split the remaining two games they had last week. They fell behind a good Rockhurst team before mounting a comeback that fell just short in a 4-3 loss.

“In the second half we stepped up our line of defense and applied pressure to make things a bit more difficult for their playmakers,” Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said. “A couple of great individual efforts on free kicks were the deciding factor.”

They ended the week with a 3-0 win over Liberty to improve their overall record to 15-6 coming into this week. In a preview of their first round of the district tournament next Tuesday, Park Hill played Oak Park Monday night. Park Hill beat the Northmen 1-0 earlier in the season.

Park Hill Volleyball

…concluded their regular season schedule with two wins last week with decisive victories over St. Joe Central (25-14, 25-13) and Ruskin (25-15, 25-8). Lindsey Grace continues to lead the Trojans in kills and blocks with 189 and 65 respectively, on the year while Kelsey Bearce leads the team in aces and assists.

Park Hill came into this week with a 17-11 record and  was matched up with St. Joe Central again Monday night in first round of districts where they advanced to play Staley Wednesday night.

Park Hill South Soccer

…beat Lee’s Summit West 1-0 early in the week to claim a share of the conference title before dropping a disappointing match to Kearney 1-0 to end the week. The Panthers (19-5) will wrap up their regular season this week with a game at Oak Park on Thursday. Securing the top seed in districts, Park Hill South will face winner of Staley/St. Joe Central in the semifinals on Tuesday at Staley.

Park Hill South Volleyball

…won both of their home games last week to end the regular season. The first came against Truman as the Panthers notched a 25-21, 25-14 victory in two games. Park Hill South would need to go down to the wire in their second game against Liberty to seal a 25-18, 28-26 victory.

The Panthers are the number one seed in the Class 4, District 15 tournament this week and will play Wednesday in the semifinals against the winner of the Winnetonka/William Chrisman match.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

placed fourth in the Class 4, District 8 race over the weekend. Tucker Melles led Park Hill South with a second place finish and first team all-conference selection. Other Panther runners who competed included Gus Whitman (16^th), Keyan Lunders (24^th), Tristan McCoy (36^th), Lendon Calhoun (37^th), Alex Thurston (38^th), and Jacob Bowlin (47^th).

"They all had a great race. Many ran as fast or faster than conference which was on a flat course," coach Brad Banning said. "Tucker Melles had a great race, just getting out kicked for first place. I think we are peaking at the right time heading into sectionals. I'm very proud of the team."

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

…finished fifth in the Class 4, District 8 race last weekend. Kainen Utt finished tenth as the Trojans’ top placement. He was followed by fellow teammates Nate Thomas (19^th), Hanok Tekle (26^th), Cain Winebrenner (33^rd), Noah Barajas (45^th), Carter Barajas (52^nd), and Brandon Rich (61^st).

 "I thought our team competed hard.  I was happy for Kainen, Nate, and Hanok who qualified individually for the sectional meet," coach Jon Davis said. "It was disappointing that we didn’t get our team through to the sectional meet."

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…placed sixth at the Class 4, District 8 race Saturday. Lizz Jurries and her 16^th place finish led the Panthers. Margaret McKeon (18^th), Erica Guzman (22^nd), Audrey Rothers (40^th), Madeline Homoly (54^th), and DeDe O’Toole (57^th) also competed for Park Hill South.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

…took eighth place at the Class 4, District race last weekend. Kim Rau led the Trojans with a 21^st place finish. Following her were Mercedes Robinson (23^rd), Brooke Bischof (43^rd), Emma Gaiser (47^th), Gianna Tutorino (51^st), Madeline Mudd (59^th), and Libby Lund (64th).

"With all the injuries we battled this year I am extremely proud of the way the girls finished," coach Jason Parr said. "We have Kim Rau and Mercedes Robinson who will run at Sectionals next week.  I hope that both of these girls will make it out to State."

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

...Madeline Homoly and Charlie McFarlane took tough and unfortunate falls in the Class 4, District 8 race last Saturday, which prevented them from advancing to sectionals this weekend. 

"These two falls obviously hurt our team score and I feel really terrible," Coach Pam Jurgensmeyer said.

The Panthers' sixth place finish was led by Lizzy Jurries and her 16^th place finish. Margaret McKeon (18^th), Erica Guzman (22^nd), Audrey Rothers (40^th), Homoly (54^th), and DeDe O’Toole (57^th) also competed for Park Hill South. McFarlane was not able to finish the race because of a turned ankle from her fall. Jurries, McKeon, and Rothers will advance to sectionals next week. Coach Pam Jurgensmeyer had only good things to say about her runners moving on. 

"We are really excited about Lizzy Jurries, Erica Guzman and freshman Margaret McKeon qualifying. Lizzy is running better than she has since her freshman year and we are really excited to see her next week. This is her 4th straight year at Sectionals. Sophomore, Erica has been running really strong all season. Margaret McKeon has been so fun to watch all season, and each week she is improving, making us so excited to see what will happen next. Margaret is very talented, hard working and positive and brings a really great energy to the team," Jurgensmeyer said.

Park Hill South Tennis

…facing a tough draw in the first round of the Missouri Class 2 state tennis tournament last week, Adele Royle fell 2-0 to Lindsey Whitehead of Ladue Horton Watkins.

Park Hill Tennis

…Brooke Barnard advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tennis tournament last week with a 2-1 win over Janet Auclair of Fort Zumwalt East. Barnard would loss 2-1 in the quarterfinal round to Bridget Jane Mayfield of Kirkwood.

Sanchez resigns from Park Hill board

A simple mistake. That's what long-time Park Hill school board member Fred Sanchez says caused him to wear a concealed weapon to last week's regular board meeting. While licensed to do so in the state of Missouri, Park Hill School District policy says firearms are not permitted on school grounds. Sanchez resigned on his own accord, saying he believes he should be held to the same standard he has held students to in his many years as a board member which is a policy of zero tolerance.

"I do not have to do this," Sanchez said as he addressed the board Tuesday evening. "The integrity of the policy means the protection of the district cannot be undermined if everyone under it lives the same way."

In a call with The Citizen and once again at Tuesday's meeting, Sanchez said he arrived late to last week's meeting after being under the weather all day. He went on to say following the conclusion of the public meeting when the board was preparing to go into closed session, a fellow board member pointed out to Sanchez that he had been carrying a concealed firearm, which he had forgotten to remove in his hurry to make it to the meeting.

"It took me aback, almost like being in a near car crash, because I immediately realized the situation," Sanchez said to board members.

While Sanchez removed the firearm from the building and placed it in his car, it still did not meet the criteria of moving the gun off district grounds. After seeking clarification with the Platte County Prosecutor's office, district officials, and personal counsel, it was concluded that Sanchez broke no laws. Though, with the lingering realization he had made a serious oversight and mistake, Sanchez made the decision to resign.

"I've had calls and emails telling me not to do this (resign)," Sanchez said. "After spiritual prayer, what came to mind were the heart-wrenching experiences over the years of children sitting right here, good kids being stupid one day, but because of my votes I changed their lives forever. What is the difference? How can I conduct myself as a board member and be guilty of breaking policy? I cannot."

Sanchez was referring to his participation in decisions made on student disciplinary actions where a zero tolerance policy applied and how it would be difficult not to apply the same accountability to himself in a similar circumstance.

"I cannot in good conscience put myself above the same consequences," Sanchez said. "I'm guilty of breaking policy in place to protect student safety and behavior."

Another factor in Sanchez's decision was the progress he said the school district is making and the important issues it currently faces.

"I'm removing myself as a distraction and target, which the district would be ill-served by."

In Sanchez's closing remarks, he asked the board to revisit the zero tolerance policy because of the potential effect it has had on so many children's lives resulting from one simple mistake, sometimes having been no fault of their own. Following Sanchez's remarks, board members unanimously accepted his resignation. There was then brief discussion on zero tolerance as well as whether there was a policy precedent for how to deal with the situation had Sanchez not chosen to resign. There was not and Superintendent Scott Springston said it would be handled on a case by case bases.

South falls short of Final Four appearance

Park Hill South ended the team portion of their season with a loss to Lee's Summit North in the state quarterfinals 5-2. The Panthers fell just short of advancing to their first Final Four appearance in school history after defeating St. Joe Central in the sectional round 5-2. Adele Royle will play in the individual portion of the state tournament this weekend after winning first place in districts and sectionals last week.

Panthers get second at KC Swim Classic

Park Hill South walked away with a second place finish at the Kansas City Classic over the weekend after falling just one point short of the first place winner Rockhurst, 291-290. New state qualifiers for the Panthers included Jacob Little in the 100 breaststroke and Tom Prinslow in the 100 freestyle. Park Hill finished seventh with a team score of 137 points. Both teams will have the next week off before competing in the conference meet next weekend, October 26th & 27th.

Trojans, Panthers ready for King of the Hill

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.”

Third time is a charm for Park Hill

Before the season even began, the Park Hill and Park Hill South soccer teams knew they could potentially face each other up to four times before the season was over. Park Hill South would go on to hand Park Hill losses in their previous two meetings, the most recent being a 1-0 win in double overtime just two weeks ago to clinch the Panther Classic tournament title. Whether it real or pure clique, the old saying about it being hard to beat a team three times held true in the teams’ third meeting as Park Hill would break a scoreless stalemate when Matt Russell scored a late goal with about three minutes left in the game to gain the 1-0 advantage. The goal would serve as the game winner and give Round Three to the Trojans.

Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank says after losing two games to their rival they came to play with a different sense of urgency and focus.

“For our seniors, we said this was the last time we were going to play Park Hill South on this field so after losing two games to them earlier this season, for lot of these guys it was a motivator,” Marchbank said. “We talked about how the first two games we let the environment and the frustrations take hold. Tonight we really stepped up to the task. We possessed the ball very well tonight.”

Park Hill defender Cain Winebrenner believed the victory, compared to their previous two losses to the Panthers, came down to determination and the will to win.

“We hope to use this as momentum to get the second half of our season started and get ready for districts,” Winebrenner said. “We were hungrier (than last time) and we came out ready to play.”

Park Hill South coach Joe Toigo says Monday’s loss has more to do with not converting scoring opportunities than any kind of perceived difficulty of beating a team three times, something the Panthers have struggled with so far this season.

“It’s our fault for the margin of error. If we put the balls away and score, we’re up 2-0. It’s our problem and has nothing to do with beating them three times or four times,” Toigo said. “No matter who we play, our margin of error has been very thin because we don’t finish the opportunities that are there. If you take away our blowouts, we’re only winning by an average of 0.8 goals a game.”

Leading up to their game Monday night, Park Hill South went 2-0 last week with a 1-0 win over Rockhurst in which Adam Weatherly scored the winning goal in the final minutes as well as a 9-0 win over Ruskin. Park Hill defeated Ruskin 10-0 and Truman 4-2 before losing to Blue Springs South in a closely contested 3-2 match.

Park Hill, now 14-5, faces Liberty this week before finishing out the regular season against Staley and St. Joe Central next week. Park Hill South, with a record of 18-4, looks to Kearney Thursday and next week will conclude their schedule against Truman and Oak Park. Just around the corner for both is the postseason and a potential fourth matchup between the two teams in district play, this time with the winner moving on and the loser ending their season. With tough regular season schedules designed to prepare them for postseason situations, both teams should be primed for the challenge.

“The goal is to play every game like the state championship,” Toigo said. “That way you’ve played it 25 times before you get there.”