Park Hill looks to build on road trip

Park Hill (1-1) is preparing to move on to Week Three action at Lee’s Summit (1-1) after a particularly rough loss to Lee’s Summit West 33-7 last Friday night. Lee’s Summit is coming off a 34-17 loss to Kearney who pulled away with two fourth quarter touchdowns to decide what had previously been a close game.

“They (Lee’s Summit) have a two-year starter at quarterback and 220-pound junior who runs downhill that we need to stop before he gets to the second level,” Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds said. “I think we match-up pretty decent up front against them. If our linebackers keep improving we should be good there. If we take away the deep stuff and tackle, we should be ok.”

Even without the rain-soaked conditions that lasted throughout last Friday’s game, Park Hill knew they would have their hands full against a top-ranked Lee’s Summit West team. The Titans proved it almost immediately as Lee’s Summit West running back Ryan Williams took carries of 27 and 38 yards into the end zone for touchdowns on their first two offensive plays putting the Trojans down 14-0 just minutes into the game.

“They scored two touchdowns on the first two plays because of us not lining up right, which is unacceptable, can’t blame that on rain,” Reynolds said. “When you get down 14-0 on two plays, the wind is kind of taken out of your sail a little bit.”

With a 20-0 lead going into halftime, Austin Burau’s second touchdown of the night put the Titans up 26-0 mid-way through the third quarter.

“They were able to dominate us up front. The rain affected kind of what we wanted to do coming in being able to pass the ball early on,” Reynolds said. “The reality is as I told the kids afterwards, they’re at a level up here, and we’re down here right now.

Park Hill, still trying to find a rhythm offensively, was able to get on the scoreboard in the latter part of the fourth quarter. Following a Lee’s Summit West turnover, Park Hill took over at the Titan 12-yard line where sophomore Stefan McCarthy eventually ran in for a three-yard touchdown to give the Trojans a score.

The story of the game was dominance on the ground as Lee’s Summit West grinded out nearly 340 yards on the ground. Ryan Williams carried the ball 14 times for 138 yards rushing while DeMarcus Edwards added 97 yards of his own on nine carries. Park Hill was only able to produce 24 yards on 37 carries.

“We’re gonna have to do a better job of making passes. Right now we’re sitting under a 33% completion mark and for a spread offense that’s not very good,” Reynolds said. “We need to be running the ball better than we are if that is going to be the case.”

While Park Hill has a huge obstacle now behind them, the rest of the season features some evenly competitive match-ups, a number of which they believe are winnable.

“I think our last seven games are 50/50 games and I don’t think there is any one game we go into where we say ‘we should win this game’ or ‘we probably won’t win this game’,” Reynolds said. “We may be the underdogs in some cases, but we should have a chance to win.”

Fall Round-up: Aug. 27-Sept. 3

Park Hill South Swim/Dive

…competed in their first meet of the season last week at Rockhurst. The Panthers fell short of a team victory by a close score of 96-89 after losing the final event in the 400 meter free relay. Park Hill South won all but four events. Rockhurst also took first, second, third, and fourth in diving. Qualifying for state in their first meet of the season were Liam Huffman in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke, Tom Prinslow in the 200 freestyle, and Ian Morgan in the 500 freestyle. Overall, Coach Steven De La Piedra said they had a great meet and were more competitive than he expected as Rockhurst is one of the top swim programs in the state.

Park Hill South next competes at the Top Dog Duals and the Ozark Invitational this weekend.

Park Hill South Boys Soccer

…started their season with two high quality wins over some of the top teams in Kansas last week in the Olathe Tournament. The Panthers beat Olathe South Tuesday 2-1 before taking Blue Valley North to overtime and then penalty kicks where they took the victory that put them in the tournament’s title game. Brody Boullion, Adam Weatherly, and Alex Weatherly contributed the three Panther goals during the tournament. The title game was rained out. The Panthers now look to the KA-MO Tournament at Blue Valley North this week.

Park Hill South hosts Blue Valley Northwest on Wednesday and then travel to St. Joe Central Monday.

Park Hill South Softball

…the Panthers are off to a 6-2 start and come into this week on a four-game winning streak after sweeping their schedule last week. Park Hill South spread the St. Joe Central Indians 10-0 last Monday in five innings. Madison price threw a no-hitter, only allowing one player to reach base the entire game. Courtney Todd went 3-for-4 with Courtney and Mallory Land added two hits apiece. The offensive barrage continued against Liberty North in an 11-4 win for the Panthers. Madison Price recorded the win from the mound while Todd, Jordin Woodward, and Kylie DeClue hit home runs. Park Hill South ended the week in workman-like fashion racking up 15 runs in three innings against Ruskin. Alyx Hagen recorded the win and struck out 8-of-9 batters she faced.

The Panthers host Lee’s Summit West Thursday afternoon.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis

…improved to 3-1 on the year last week with two convincing wins over Oak Park and Staley. Adele Royle defeated both of her opponents to lead the Panthers with an 8-1 victory over Oak Park’s Margarita Akaiza and Staley’s Chloe Clement by a score of 8-0. She teamed up with teammate Shay Jackson for victories of 8-4 and 8-4. They travel to Fort Osage on Monday.

Park Hill Girls Golf

…after bringing home second place in the Liberty North Tournament, the Trojans continued their success last week with a convincing 201 to 276 match win over Winnetonka. Adrianna Elliott medaled in first place while Bailey Warlen took second place overall.

This week they play in the St. Joe Central Invitational Thursday before ending the week with a match against Park Hill South at the National.

Park Hill Volleyball

…after a solid victory over North Kansas City to begin the season, the Park Hill volleyball team lost to Liberty 25-21, 25-18 to bring their record to 1-1 overall.

Lindsey Grace and Lyndi Plattner lead the team in kills through four games with 11 each. Grace and Plattner also lead in aces served and blocks. The Trojans travel to Lee’s Summit Thursday and Lee’s Summit North Tuesday.

Park Hill/Park Hill South Boys Cross Country
... Park Hill finished sixth with 173 team points at the Liberty Invitational while Park Hill South finished just behind in seventhplace with 177 team points. Both teams will be at the Ray-Pec Invite this Saturday.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country
...finished in eighth placed with 182 team points at the Liberty Invitational. Madeline Homoly lead the Panthers with a team best 13:33 while Lizzy Jurries (13:49), Erica Guzman (14:10), and Audrey Rothers (14:14) were shortly behind. They'll next compete in the Ray-Pec Invite Saturday.

Park Hill volleyball wins opener, gives back

The Park Hill volleyball team started off their season Monday night with a quality win over North Kansas City, overpowering their way to victory in consecutive sets. Especially with a more experienced squad, after two or three weeks of practice, the anticipation to get the season under way was mounting by the day.

“We have lot of juniors, a couple seniors,” junior Lyndi Plattner said. “We are putting it all together because for a lot us, it’s our third or fourth year.”

Coach Lindsey Hood was pleased with the win, but knew there were improvements to make.

“It’s nice to get a win. It gives the girls a little bit of confidence," Hood said.

The Lady Trojans have not only been busy preparing for the season ahead, but they took time out of their practice schedule a couple weeks ago to volunteer at the Micah Ministry at Independence Boulevard Christian Church. Some of the things team members helped out with included serving the homeless, working in the kids center, and handing out clothes.

“We always preach to the girls to give back and how important that is,” Hood said.

The Trojans host Lee’s Summit West next Tuesday before traveling to Lee’s Summit Thursday or next week.

No time to revel in win for Trojans

After a thrilling last second come from behind victory against Raytown South last week, the Park Hill Trojans won’t have much time to savor their season opening 23-22 win. They must now look to hosting this Friday’s match-up against a highly talented and experienced Lee’s Summit West team fresh off a nationally televised win over defending state champion Staley, who they shutout 23-0.

Park Hill is hoping to use the adrenaline from their comeback to redeem themselves from last year’s 49-0 loss to the Titans at home. Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds said how his team reacts after a big win will benefit them later in the season.

“How we react to playing Lee’s Summit West is huge,” Reynolds said. “We want to enjoy the win because that type of thing (a come-from-behind victory) doesn’t happen much, but at the end of the season we’re going to have to play Park Hill South in Week Nine followed by a big game the next week. So reacting to a big win and getting back on track is what good teams do.”

Facing a team which had few noticeable weaknesses in Week One, the Trojans are going to need an exceptional performance beyond the X’s and O’s.

“They’re bigger than us, older than us, and deeper than us. Technique, fundamental-wise we have to have a no mistake-type of game,” Reynolds said. “We have to fight, learn how to take a punch, and not lay down. Last year was an embarrassment; we didn’t stop them or even force them to run a long third down play in the first half.”

Park Hill quarterback Clay Ford’s first varsity start last week had its ups and downs including two interceptions, but it will mostly be remembered for how he took that mix of success and propelled the Trojans in a last minute drive to win the game after Raytown South took the lead 22-16 with just 1:13 left to play.

“I think before that drive he was down a little bit, I could tell by his composure. It wasn’t something that was going to lead us to a win,” Reynolds said. “But he started to think about what it was going to take to go into that huddle and take over. He did a good job; he was scrambling all seven plays and moved out of the pocket on all of them except the final one.”

Park Hill took the field in their hurry-up offense and was on the brink of eliminating their chance at a comeback several times before Park Hill quarterback Clay Ford hit Ariyan Trawick for a 30-yard touchdown pass. The extra point put Park Hill up 23-22 with about five seconds remaining to seal the victory. Ford finished 8-of-21 passing for 163 yards with one touchdown. Dondrell Hardiman contributed two touchdowns as part of a 116 yard, 22 carry rushing performance.

Reynolds believes his defense made strides of improvement as well and sees the victory as a step forward for the team overall.

“Take away maybe three big plays and we played a pretty good defensive game. So I was pleased with that,” Reynolds said. “If we stay healthy and keep getting better, I think this is something we can build off.”

Panthers look to second straight tough opponent

After a tough week one loss last Friday to Fort Osage 28-0, Park Hill South travels to Blue Springs to take on a Wildcat team coming off a convincing 56-13 victory over St. Joe Central. Taking on the second-ranked team in Missouri’s biggest class won’t make things any easier for the Panthers in Week Two. Focus number one will be on a Blue Springs program that has been notorious for their strong running attack, one which was led last week by running back Dalvin Warmack who rushed for 150 yards and four touchdowns last week.

“We know they (Blue Springs) are going to be good, physical, and big. I know they have almost everyone back from last year,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox. “We have to go in there and do what we do. Right now, we have to fix our things.”

 Despite the struggles in Week One, Simcox believes that if they are able to fix some of their own mistakes, the Panthers see potential opportunities they can take advantage of Friday night.

“There are some things we think we’ll be able to do,” Simcox said. “They’re a different kind of defense. They’re bigger (than Fort Osage), but I’m not sure they’re as active.”

In a rematch of their district finale loss last year to Fort Osage, Park Hill South fell again by the same score of 28-0. The loss featured a Panther defense that was unable to counter the versatility of Fort Osage senior quarterback Steven McBee who went 12-21 passing for 97 yards, but also grinded out 107 yards on 16 carries. McBee scored all three of the Indians’ touchdowns.

With star running back Myles Hammonds out due to injuries, the Panthers were forced to run the ball by committee which did not prove effective. Up against a tough Indian defense which only gave up 81 yards, Park Hill South was only gained two first downs in the first half. Unable to gain any traction in the running game prevented the Panthers from opening up the field to pass to deep threat wide receiver Craig Scott.

"We have to find a way to run it, they're not going to let us throw it to our best two offensive players," Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox. "They're an awfully good defense; we'll see a lot of defenses like that, but not necessarily better than that."

After their defense forced a Panthers four and out on their first drive of the game, the Indians went 60 yards in 11 plays to score the game's first points after a McBee two-yard touchdown run. They added a two point conversion on to make the score 8-0 early in the first quarter.

With an 18-0 lead coming into the second half, McBee put the game's doubt out of mind after a 64-yard touchdown run. Park Hill South fumbled the ensuing kickoff which led to Fort Osage kicker Hayden Baumgartner converting his second field goal of the night off a Panther turnover, extending the lead to its final 28-0.

Fall Roundup: Aug. 20-27

Park Hill Girls Tennis

…started the season with a loss to a talented Pembroke Hill team 8-1, but were encouraged by a win from doubles pair Kaylin Lake and Brooke Barnard who defeated Yurie Heard and Wanda Czerwinski 10-8. They play St. Theresa’s Academy Friday at the Plaza Tennis Center.

Park Hill Boys Soccer

…racked up 10 goals in their first game of the season. Ending early due to the spread rule, Park hill beat 10-0 against Raytown South in the Liberty Kick-off Classic to clinch their first victory. Matt Russell, Alec Fiest, and Brandon Riley all had two goals a piece while Keaton Anchors, Nick Hibbeler, Jake Roepe, and Timmy Hay rounded out the rest of the scoring.

Park Hill Boys Swim/Dive

… in the first meet of the year, qualified their 200 medley relay team for the state meet in November with a third place finish at last weekend’s SouthRock Invitational. Barry Chang took first place in the 200 yard butterfly. Other top three finishers included Matt Wagner in the 200 backstroke and Jered Wegner in the 100 backstroke. Coach Karl Haley also saw some encouraging signs from his younger swimmers.

“We saw a lot of good out of our large freshmen class.  They are very inexperienced, but if they stick with it we should be looking good in the years to come,” Haley said.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis

…opened their season off last week 1-1 with a 9-0 victory over Blue Springs and a 6-3 loss to Lee’s Summit North. Top singles player Adele Royle went 1-1 on the week as did Royle and doubles teammates Shay Jackson with both wins coming against Blue Springs. The Panthers play at Staley Thursday before traveling to Blue Springs South next Tuesday.

Park Hill South Softball 

…brought home a 3-2 record from the Joplin Tournament last weekend. Wins included Webb City (4-3), Bartlesville (14-2), and a come-from-behind victory against Carl Junction (11-10) in which Park Hill South scored seven runs in the final inning to pull ahead. Pitcher Madison Price secured two victories on the mound for the Panthers while Mallory Land, Jordin Woodward, and Kylie DeClue had home runs. Games against Liberty North and Ruskin are on the schedule for this week.

Park Hill Girls Golf 

...is starting off the season in what appears to be mid-season form as they defeated Platte County 202 to 252 last week and started this week off with a second place finish at the Liberty North Tournament Monday. Bailey Warlen placed second with a score of 80 while Adrianna Elliott and Sydney Sanders weren't far behind with 4th (84) and 10th (98) place finishes. Park Hill hosts Winnetonka at Tiffany Greens Wednesday afternoon.

FALL PREVIEW: Park Hill South Football

A 3-1 start in 2011 put the Panthers on the path towards reaching a second straight playoff appearance. However, a perfect storm of injuries coupled with an inexperienced group of young starters caused Park Hill South to stumble to a 1-5 finish, leaving them without a postseason berth at the end of the season. Learning from that experience with a majority of those same players returning in 2012 is something head coach Mark Simcox believes will yield positive results.

“At various times last year we started seven sophomores, so we have a lot of guys that played a lot of games,” Simcox said. “We’re not teaching anymore. The players know how we do things, so we can focus more on the football stuff. Everyone is more comfortable.”

The Panthers have a strong defensive lineup comprised of seven returning starters including two of its key pieces coming in the form of Robert Lane and Cody Kildow, athletes who can at times act as either linemen or linebackers, giving a high degree of flexibility to adjust to opposing offenses. Joining them will be core inside linebackers Austin Miller and Kenrick Cook.

While the experience and strength may be on the defense, Park Hill South will have a number of talented options on the offensive side of the ball to present a dangerously balanced attack. Splitting time equally at quarterback last year were junior Carson Reid and sophomore Shaefer Schuetz, but in 2012 Simcox says the Panthers will have one quarterback leading them with the other in ready reserve.

“We’re going to ask them both to do more than they did last year,” Simcox said. “Doesn’t matter who it is coming into week one, we’ll always try to have our back-up get a series or two a game.”

Whoever wins the quarterback job will be handing off to the versatile senior running back Miles Hammonds who, when healthy, last year provided Park Hill South with the speed and power for a strong running game. Leading the way for him will be an offensive line featuring Cletus Gilmore, Seth Cline, Cody Kildow, Isaiah Jones, and Cody Batton. Simcox says his linemen on both sides of the ball bring more size than they had available last year, which when combined with their other weapons, puts them in a position to match-up well with top competition.

“With our players being in the program long enough, our size, and our strength, we look like a big Class 5 team,” Simcox said. “We don’t have Division One players all over the place, but as a real solid high school football team, I think we’re in a good place.”

One of those weapons will be senior wide receiver Craig Scott who pulled in 50 catches and 11 touchdowns last season. His athleticism will give the Panthers a deep threat as well as keep secondaries honest in regards to the run. Complimenting him on the other sideline is junior receiver Nick Griffith who will allow the entire field to be used.

“With the kids we have, we will definitely be able to be more wide open,” Simcox said. “We hope to be able to control the ball with both our passing game and running game.”

Park Hill South will be led onto the field by 22 seniors in their first game of the season, a rematch of last year’s district finale 28-0 loss to state quarterfinalist Fort Osage. The game will be broadcast live on television as Metro Sports Game of the Week.

FALL PREVIEW: Park Hill Football

For the first time since 2004, Park Hill’s 5-5 record in 2011 left the Trojans out of the Missouri state playoffs. While it was a painful experience for a program which prides itself on performing well in district play, it’s one the players are moving on from it in order to rebuild for their comeback in 2012.

“We’ve only had two non-winning seasons in 12 years,” Reynolds said. “There are no excuses for why it happened. We’ve talked to the kids about it and they understand the reasons. We keep that to our selves, but we have to improve and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

One thing Park Hill comes into the season more comfortable with is their overall depth after a 2011 season that featured a string of key injuries leaving them short-handed at critical points.

“Even though we don’t have as many names on the roster, we’re better off depth-wise than we were last year,” Reynolds said. “If we had an injury last year, we didn’t have anyone ready to play varsity. This year we feel if there is an injury, we’re going to be ok.”

Park Hill will lean on its defense early which returns the most experience. After offseason surgery senior Will Gaye will return at middle linebacker along with junior Nate Blanchard, both of which will be a big part of the Trojans’ defensive scheme as will linebackers Jake Terveer and Stefan McCarthy. Linemen Gary Wilson and Matt Gilme will play big roles both in the middle and off the edge of a defensive front that will use three and four man fronts. John Balsamo, Matt Gillman, and Carter Anchors make up what has been an enthusiastic and hard working secondary in preseason workouts.

“Defensively with a lot of returning guys, they’re really starting to improve and do things a lot better,” Reynolds said. “We’ve put in a lot more on both sides of the football than we ever have, and the kids are really picking it up.”

Offensively, the Trojans will be adjusting more to what’s usually described as a spread formation. Junior Clay Ford will be taking over the quarterback duties and run the offense from the shotgun position. With this new approach, Reynolds feels it will allow the assignments for each player to be easier to read. This will complement the experience Park Hill has in their skills players which include running backs Dondrell Hardiman (294 yards, 3 TD’s in 2011) and Stefan McCarthy (128 yard, 1 TD) as well as wide receivers Anthony Arens (106 yards receiving, 1 TD) and Lane Holmes (100 yards receiving, 1 TD).

“The good thing is we have a lot of skill guys back on offense so we’re doing a lot more shotgun and putting the ball in our skills guys’ hands,” Reynolds said. “With that, there are going to be some mistakes once in awhile, but we’ve had some success implementing it over the summer so we’ll see."

The development of a young offensive line will play a pivotal role in putting together a traditionally strong Trojan running game. They’re also athletes that could see time on the defensive side of the ball as well. Returning starter senior Gary Pickel will be joined by Jordan Lashbrook, Joe Tuimauga, and Anthony Enriquez in the trenches.

A hard working, lead-by-example group of 20 seniors will lead Park Hill into the 2012 season which starts off with two big games. The first on August 24th at Raytown South followed by hosting Lee’s Summit West on August 31st.

FALL PREVIEW: Park Hill Volleyball

Three years ago when Park Hill volleyball coach Lindsey Hood took over the program she was working with a young and inexperienced group of freshmen and sophomores. In 2012 the Trojans are hoping those years of development since will finally start to pay off on the court. Coming off a 14-17 season and second place finish in conference, this year will serve as both an opportunity and challenge as conference realignment provides Park Hill will two of the city's top programs as competition in Lee's Summit West and Park Hill South.

Three-year letter winner Lindsey Grace and Davon Thomas return as a seniors to lead the Trojans. Grace led the team in blocks, assists, and kills last season and has already verbally committed to play at Southeastern Louisiana University next year. In a squad heavy with juniors, Angelica Pasek, Lyndi Plattner, and Kelsey Bearce will start with Stephanie Lane, Rylee Stoulil, and Taylor Baehr being a part of the rotation off the bench. Katie Reichert and Olivia Nowakowski are slated to start and contribute as sophomores.

Park Hill won't be a team that features a lot of offensive size, but they hope to counter it with their defense and execution.

"Offensively, we don’t have the big guns that some teams have, but defensively we have the ball control and movement we’ve been working on. We’re getting to balls we didn’t use to in the past," Hood said. "We’re going to have to out-work people since we’re outsized so we have to be smarter and develop our volleyball IQ."

One thing Hood says is different now compared to previous years is the maturity her players have developed and grown into as they become more experienced players, meaning there is more potential to build onto than just the basics. Their defensive blocking scheme is where they hope to see this in action.

"When we introduce new skills, they’re getting it a lot quicker and we’ve got multiple people stepping up to be leaders," Hood said. "We’re working on a new blocking scheme, so if that comes along our defense will come right with it. We may struggle at first, but hopefully by the end of the season we’ll be perfecting it to put it together on the court."

One thing Hood hopes her team will be able to do this year is have fun, which was harder to do as underclassmen who play volleyball year-round and put a significant amount of pressure on themselves to perform.

"Many times I have to remind them they do not need to be harder on themselves than I am," Hood said. "They have the “want” to win, now we are really focusing on the “how” to win."

Park Hill will get a good grasp of where they are in the early season when they compete in the Winnetonka Tournament in early September before going into the start of their conference schedule.

FALL PREVIEW: Park Hill South Volleyball

Park Hill South volleyball is known for its high expectations and with seven returning letter winners from a 31-5 team that won conference and district titles last season, 2012 will be no different. It is part of a culture developed by head coach Debbie Fay that’s resulted in more than 750 victories over the course of her career and will once again force other teams to put a target on the Panthers.

“These are kids that have played varsity for quite a few years. I can’t say we’re the underdogs or we’re young and starting over,” Fay said. “They have some expectations on them and they need to step in and up-hold that.”

Seniors Tori Kerr, Lindsey Yager, and Skylar German will lead the Panthers along with junior Ashton Anderson who will take charge and run the offense. Other starters coming back with experience include juniors Claire Friedliun and Maddie Palmer as well as sophomore Sami Nay. On any given night, each is capable of being an impact player, something which will make this squad a tough one to matchup against.

“I have a great group of kids that can bond together, the chemistry is good,” Fay said. “If they stay healthy, I think we’re going to have a good time. They are really hard workers, probably one of the hardest working groups I’ve ever had.”

While the Panthers return experience and talent, their one weakness is in their lack of size, so it will be key to use their balance on the court and quickness to control and move the ball efficiently. Fay says the thing which will bring it all together is the team’s quality chemistry.

Park Hill South welcomes Lee’s Summit West and Park Hill into their conference this season, which present unique challenges, but before conference play gets started, the Panthers will travel to Orlando to play in a national tournament over Labor Day Weekend which will be a unique experience for all.

“I’ve never taken a team that far before,” Fay said. “They’ve been a good, hard working group so I figured ‘let’s do something fun for a special group of kids’.”