KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first miscue by Park Hill opened the door for Liberty to grab an early lead on Friday, Aug. 31.
The last miscue by the Trojans ended a feverish rally and let the Blue Jays leave Preston Field with a 24-21 victory against the Class 6 No. 7-ranked Trojans.
Between the two turnovers, Park Hill put together another rally — like in week 1 — that put a scare in the opposition but ultimately came short.
“We have an outstanding football team with good character and athletic ability,” Park Hill coach Josh Hood said “In the first two weeks we have put ourselves in the unique and unfortunate position of playing from behind. Our first half offense and special teams blunder this past week really put us in a tough spot coming out of halftime. We still feel that we have one of the top teams in the state; however, we have to figure out ways to win big ball games instead of ways to lose them. “
The Trojans fell to 0-2 with the loss and then tumbled out of the Missouri Media poll when the latest rankings came out on Monday, Sept. 3.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Liberty defender Dominic Mesh, left, tackles Park Hill quarterback Ryan Graves, using his jersey as leverage, during a game on Friday, Aug. 31 at Preston Field at Park Hill High School. The Blue Jays won the game, 24-21.
Park Hill fell behind 17-0 against the Blue Jays (1-1) and the main reason was costly mistakes.
On the first drive of the game, Liberty blocked Park Hill’s punt attempt and took over at the 8-yard line. The Trojans defense held Liberty out of the end zone, but a field goal by Grant Ross made it 3-0.
That score stayed until the end of the first quarter.
Park Hill had an opportunity to take the lead early in the third quarter, but a turnover stopped it. A 3-yard punt by Liberty gave the Trojans the ball at the Liberty 17-yard line.
Quarterback Ryan Graves hit Jaylin Noel for a 14-yard gain and moved the ball to the 3-yard line.
Two plays later, Graves was hit from behind and fumbled. Liberty took over at the 7-yard line and two plays later, Alex Roush hit Jack Lowery for an 83-yard touchdown pass.
When things didn’t seem like they could get worse, they did.
Park Hill fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Liberty got the ball back at the Trojans’ 26-yard line. The defense buckled down again and this time got a turnover on downs at the 18-yard line.
The Trojans couldn’t get much traction going and had to punt and Liberty took over at the 23-yard line with 3 minutes, 6 seconds to go before half. The Blue Jays needed only five plays, with Roush hooking up with Lowery for a 31-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead.
Park Hill finally got on the board in the third quarter. Graves called his own number on a fourth-and-goal situation and scored from the 3-yard line with 4:59 to play in the frame.
Johnny Wilson got a sack on third down to stop Liberty’s next drive and gave his team the ball back. The offense started to pick up first downs and got the chains moving. Davis Suppes had a 12-yard gain and facing a third down, Graves hit Noel for another first-down catch.
Facing a fourth down, the Trojans lined up to kick a field goal, but then called a time out. Out of the break, the Trojans got more points on the board when Payton Stanfield scored on a seven-yard run. The extra point missed, but Park Hill pulled within 17-13 with 10:43 to play in the fourth quarter.
Liberty scored on the next drive but got a lot of help from the Trojans that made scoring a lot easier. Facing a 3rd-and-8 from the Park Hill 38, Roush ran out of bounds.
A flag was thrown for a late hit and on the same play another flag — for unsportsmanlike conduct penalty — hit the field. All of the sudden, Liberty had the ball at the 11-yard line and then Roush hit Nathan Gray for a touchdown and a 24-13 lead.
“We still feel as a team and as a coaching staff that if we refocus our efforts throughout the week, we could play with any team in what seems to be a wild start to the season,” Hood said. “We need to keep our focus on where we are by week 8 and 9 instead of lamenting upon the mistakes of weeks one and two.”
The game was almost over with 3 minutes to play, but the Trojans got a fortunate break for the first time all night.
Graves threw a pass intercepted by Michael Book, but on the return upfield, he lost the ball and Park Hill recovered at the Liberty 28-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Graves hit Noel for a touchdown with 2:45 to play. Down 24-19, the Trojans went for two and got it.
Graves had to scramble from pressure and as he was being tackled, got a pass off to Joe Webb, who caught it to make it 24-21.
Liberty then couldn’t get anything going on offense and had to punt.
Fortunate break No. 2 then happened as the snap sailed over the punter’s head but Book somehow got the punt off.
Park Hill had the ball at the 34-yard line of Liberty with 1:44 to play and one timeout to burn.
Two plays later, Evan Streich won a jump ball with Suppes to seal the win for the Blue Jays.
Roush threw for 207 yards, 113 of which went to Lowery on his two touchdown catches.
Graves threw for 154 yards, completing 18 of 26 pass attempts. Noel had five catches, while Stanfield hauled in four passes. Rushing-wise, the Trojans struggled. Javion Gathrite was the top rusher with 15 yards on eight carries.
Looking ahead
The Trojans will look to earn their first win and avoid their first 0-3 start this decade when Liberty North visits.
Park Hill has dominated the series in recent years, including a pair of postseason wins.
The Eagles, coached by former Kearney coach Greg Jones, are 1-1 and coming off a 49-0 thrashing against Truman. In Week 1, Liberty North fell 40-13 to Lee’s Summit North, a team ranked in the Class 6 polls.
“We have had some real contests with Liberty North in past playoffs,” Hood said. “This time we get to play them after two losses. It will be yet another quality test for our kids to measure where we are week three. They like their speed offensively just like we like our defensive speed. We have kept ourselves in ball games by averaging two yards per carry through two games. It will be important to stop the run and not allow the time or passing lanes for their quarterback to do what he does best. We will need to stop our turnovers and focus on first downs in order to keep the chains moving offensively.
“Truly we need to fix a couple of details in order to win the special teams battle Friday night as that will play a big role in winning games.”