The Park Hill South Panthers scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to come from behind to beat North Kansas City 28-24 at home on Friday, Oct. 9.
The Hornets had a 14-0 lead after the first quarter on touchdown runs of 24 and 52 yards before the Panthers answered in the second quarter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Gaige Warren from quarterback Nathan Ricco. NKC got a field goal at the end of the half to go back up by two scores.
South got the ball to start the second half and went three and out forcing a punt. Mudia Reuben fumbled the snap and was tackled at the Panthers’ 16-yard line. NKC needed only one play to find the end zone and went up 24-7 with less than two minutes played in the third quarter.
South got the ball back and threw three-straight incomplete passes and all momentum seemed to swing towards the Hornets. South’s defense got a stop but again the offense stalled without a yard gained.
The defense got another stop and that’s when the comeback started. South’s offense got a big boost when sophomore Dylan Love broke free on a long run to get the Panthers down to the one-yard line. Love was rewarded on the next play with a touchdown run.
South’s defense got two more three and out stops with the offense responding on both possessions. Ricco found senior Justin Harrison for a 29-yard touchdown and threw his second touchdown pass to Warren from 18 yards out that was good for the game winner with 10:31 left in the game.
“North Kansas City came ready to play and they jumped on us fast,” South head coach Allan Wilmes told the Platte County Citizen after the game. “They’re a great team. I’m sure we’ll see them again.”
Both of the Hornets’ turnovers came in the fourth quarter. While driving into Panthers’ territory South senior Andrew Horton intercepted a NKC quarterback Kail Williams’ pass with 1:49 left in the game.
The Hornets used their timeouts to get the ball back with 33 seconds left in the game. South senior linebacker Jamari Westbrook separated Williams from the ball on the first play and fellow senior RJ Mitchell recovered the fumble to end the game.
Wilmes said all of the credit for the win goes to his assistant coaches and his players who believed in the coaches.
“We talk about adversity all the time and playing hard. Things are going to happen, it’s a roller coaster. There’s highs, there’s lows; we just tell them not to jump off the ride. Keep playing hard and good things will happen and that’s what happened tonight,” Wilmes said. “We were fortunate but a lot of that was because our kids played their butts off and did what we asked them to do and they believed in us.”
It was the second straight game the Panthers’ offense played without leading rusher Briggs Bartosh who watched the game in a boot on his right foot. Ricco has stepped up his game throwing the ball and others are picking up the slack with Bartosh out.
“Nathan has come a long way and this is only his second year of playing football,” Wilmes said. “Not having a summer kind of derailed him from competing against other people but he’s really coming along now and trusting the offense and making good decisions. He played really well tonight. I’m proud of him.”
Ricco completed 9 of 21 passes for 92 yards and three touchdowns. Warren only caught two passes but both were for touchdowns. Love was the Panthers’ leading rusher with 137 yards on nine carries and a touchdown.
The win puts the Panthers into the No. 2 seed position in the Class 5 District 8 with games left at Lee’s Summit this Friday and at home versus St. Joseph Central at home in the final week of the regular season. Combined, both teams have only won three games.
Wilmes acknowledged the win over the Hornets was big but also said there’s more work to do.
“Each week is the most important week and we wanted to go 1-0 this week and we did,” Wilmes said. “After tomorrow we start looking at Lee’s Summit and now that’s the most important game. It was a great team win and a great comeback. That hasn’t happened here a lot. We’re happy so we’re going to go back to work now.”