A new schedule, mixed in with some key returning players, brings optimism to the Park Hill South football program.
The Panthers made the Class 5 playoffs in 2016, but last year fell to a 4-6 mark, losing in the first round of districts.
This year, the team has a handful of returning players on both sides of the ball, including a much-ballyhooed recruit in Etinosa Reuben, who has committed to Clemson.
The Panthers went 4-6 last year, struggling at the end of the season. After five games, Park Hill South held a 3-2 mark but then lost three in a row and four of the final five to squelch any hope for a return to the playoffs.
File photo
Running back Ta'Von Tusa is back for the Park Hill South football team.
The schedule changed immensely in the offseason with the transition of Lee’s Summit and Staley to the Suburban Conference Red Division, while Raytown dropped down. Staley is the defending Class 5 champions and ended the Panthers’ season in the 2016 playoffs.
The schedule also includes Class 4 semifinalist Platte County and Class 6 quarterfinalist Blue Springs South.
“With our schedule there are no weeks off,” said Park Hill South coach Mike Sharp, who is 16-14 at the helm. “The biggest game is honestly our next one. We do not have the luxury of overlooking anyone.”
The defensive side of the ball, coached by coordinator Alan Wilmes, returns Reuben and Addison Snowball at defensive end.
Reuben, 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, had 55 tackles, seven TFL, four sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. The third-year football player had 20-plus Division I offers and narrowed his list down to Ohio State, Wisconsin and Clemson, before picking to play for the 2016 national champions.
Snowball, 6-3, 265 pounds, played only one game last year before tearing his ACL and missing the rest of the season. He is back healthy and is expected to get a lot of chances to rack up tackles as teams look to avoid Reuben — who often saw double teams last year.
“Everyone will be scared … he is going to Clemson,” Snowball said. “I’d like to think everything he knows, I know. You think you won’t run on him, but running on my side, it isn’t happening. I want it to come to me.”
Senior Beau Buford will be at outside linebacker and juniors Mike Suchanick and Cameron Gillespie will be the other linebackers. In the secondary, senior Payton Murray returns. He holds nearly a dozen Division II offers from schools in the MIAA and Northern Sun. He had 40 tackles, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and returned a punt for a touchdown last year.
The offense returns some starters, the most significant being running back Ta’Von Tusa. The Bishop Miege student ran for 1,295 yards and 18 touchdowns in his first year at the school. He finished with 1,359 all-purpose yards and was a first-team all-conference and all-district pick.
Quarterback Matt Suchanick, a junior, became the Panthers third quarterback last year when two other quarterbacks broke their collarbones in the same game. Blocking for Tusa and providing protection for Suchanick will be senior Tyler Templin, a 6-5, 270-pound tackle and Tyler Brown, who will move from guard to center.
Kent Cramer, the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, returns wide receiver Braeden Denney, who makes the move to that position after two year starting at defensive back, while Charles Warren could be a key weapon at wide receiver.
The line does lose Ben Becker, who signed with Division I South Alabama, while the offense loses Sam Beurelein, a two-year starter that is still in school but had surgery this summer and will miss a majority, if not all the season. The junior played linebacker/wide receiver, who has committed to play baseball at Georgetown, has been with the team each day and has been an emotional leader for the Panthers.