When you play your football games in Missouri like the Park Hill South Panthers, you can expect all sorts of weather and elements. One week it can be hot and humid, the other it can be damp and dreary.
This week it was damp, dreary, muddy, really muddy but that didn’t matter for the Panthers in their 18-0 blanking of the St. Joseph Central Indians for their first victory of the season, which happened to come in their initial Suburban Red Conference game of the season on Friday, Sept. 7 at Noyes Field.
In a game that featured ugly conditions, you can almost expect mistakes and very few big plays. The team that protects the football and finds some running room will usually prevail.
The Panthers were that team in this football game, as the Indians’ offense struggled to find any momentum against a stout Panthers defense that made it difficult to do anything.
“Obviously, it is always nice to get the first one,” Panthers coach Mike Sharp said. “We have had to overcome injuries and things like that, it’s always good to get the first victory. We played well, tonight. Defensively, we played extremely well and we did a nice job on special teams, but we still have work to do on offense. Just glad to get out of here relatively injury-free. It was just fun playing old-school football tonight.”
With the Panthers leading 4-0 after a couple of safeties, thanks to errant snaps by the Indians, they found a big play on offense in the second quarter.
With 3 minutes, 20 seconds remaining before halftime, the Panthers got the ball back after a quick three-and-out by the Indians (0-3, 0-1). On the first play of the drive Panthers sophomore quarterback Gaige Warren — making his second start after the injury to starting-quarterback Matt Suchanick — handed the ball off to senior running back Ta’Von Tusa.
He took the football and bounced it to the right side of the field, where Tusa found a few Indians defenders, but they were no-match for the shifty Tusa who gained footing on a field covered in mud, where grass used to be.
Once, he cleared the defense it was a sprint to the house up the right sideline for a Panthers score. Junior placekicker Michael Verhoeven booted the extra point, giving the Panthers an 11-0 advantage with 3:11 remaining before half.
“It was really slippery out here,” said Tusa, who ran for 101 yards on 18 carries. “You had to make one cut and go, it was very difficult. You can’t make excuses you just have to go. We needed this game tonight, it feels real nice building some confidence. We just have to keep working.”
The Indians best drive came on the opening possession of the second half.
After picking up a first-down on three straight runs, the Indians was on their 34-yard line, when senior quarterback Taylor Wells made a decision to keep the football on a RPO (run, pass, option) play. Once he made the decision to keep the football, Wells dashed up the left side with the football deep into Panthers territory, where he was finally stopped after a 51-yard gain at the 15-yard line.
Indians first-year coach Regi Trotter made the decision to go for six points on 4th-and-5 from the 10-yard line. Wells dropped back the pass and fired the ball towards senior receiver Luke Zweerink, who made a diving attempt at the pass, but watched the football glance off his hands falling incomplete. The Panthers had averted the scoring attempt and maintained their 11-0 lead with 8:15 remaining in the third quarter.
After a couple of series by the Panthers with relatively no offensive movement, the Indians regained possession of the football.
Wells was unable to keep control of a snap on a third-down play in Panthers’ territory at the 47-yard line and Panthers senior linebacker Blaze Yusten seized the opportunity recover fumble.
Yusten made a 47-yard dash to the end zone, giving the Panthers an 18-0 lead following the extra-point by Verhoeven with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Panthers defense, led by Clemson recruit Etinosa Rebuen, accounted for 10 of the 18 points.
“Anytime our defense is producing points (two safeties and a touchdown) it helps a lot,” Sharp said. “We had some success tonight that we can build off going into next week against Staley.”
The Panthers and Indians were both kept off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.
Warren rushed for 49 yards and passed for 49 for the Panthers, while Wells ran for a team-high 69 yards for the Indians.
Looking ahead
The defending Class 5 champions come calling this week.
The current conference leaders, Staley is coached by Phil Lite, who led the Falcons to a perfect 14-0 record last year. The Falcons are in their first season in the Suburban Red and off to a 3-0 start — 2-0 in league play — after defeating Class 6 Lee’s Summit, 14-7, last week.
The Panthers tied with Liberty North in the conference (1-0) and are looking to move up the standings when the Falcons visit at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14 on Preston Field at Park Hill High School.
“We just have to work hard this week at practice and execute,” Tusa said. “Playing Staley is a challenge, but we have a really good chance to win, if we work hard and bust our tails.”
KALEB HUFFMAN/Citizen photo
Mud cakes the white jersey of Park Hill South defensive end Etinosa Reuben during a game against St. Joseph Central on Friday, Sept. 7 at Noyes Field in St. Joseph, Mo. During one of the rare games not on a turf field for the Panthers, muddy and wet conditions played a factor in the outcome.