BLUE SPRINGS — The vaunted Park Hill defense made two turnovers late in the fourth quarter against Blue Springs South.
Both turnovers came with the Trojans trailing the Jaguars by a touchdown and after the second takeaway, the offense turned it into the game-winning drive.
Quarterback Anthony Hall threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Sosna for the game-winning score with 2 minutes, 40 seconds left.
That gave the Trojans a 21-20 lead and ultimately victory at Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium.
“We didn’t play the best game, but a win is a win,” said Sosna, who hauled in his first touchdown catch of the season.
The win secures at least a share of the Suburban Conference Gold Division title for the Trojans, which can wrap up the outright title with a win against Blue Springs on Oct. 25.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Park Hill’s Sam Sweeney (back) and Antonio McCullough (right) converge on a punt coverage play with Blue Springs South return man Luke Fellers, who fumbled the ball. Mikey Miles, not in the photo, would ultimately recover the ball for Park Hill during a game on Friday, Oct. 11 at Blue Springs South High School.
“The Suburban Conference is as good as any in the state with great programs and storied history and to come in and do what we have done in this conference is an outstanding feat,” Park Hill coach Josh Hood said.
For most of the third quarter and parts of the fourth, the win looked improbable for the Trojans (6-1) against the Jaguars (1-6).
Blue Springs South had momentum going into the break after Max Conard threw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Frost with 24 seconds left in the second quarter forged a 14-14 tie.
Park Hill had a short drive to open the third quarter and four plays into the Jaguars’ drive, Conard hit Cortes Essex for a 49-yard gain.
The ball was at the Park Hill 9-yard line, but two short runs and an incomplete pass set up Shane Harper’s 21-yard field goal.
Later in the quarter, Blue Springs South turned an interception into points.
Jaylon Johnson got a deflection near midfield and ran it back to the Park Hill 23-yard line with 3 minutes, 33 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Jaguars got into the red zone but settled for another field goal by Harper, this one from 36 yards away, bumping the lead to 20-14.
“We kept getting stops and we kept working but we got to stop them from making field goals and we got to block them,” said Miles, who had a team-high 13 tackles.
The Park Hill defense, allowing just a tick over 10 points per game coming into the contest, forced three fumbles in the final quarter to set the stage.
The first was forced by Iowa State commit Johnny Wilson but Conard recovered it early in the quarter and South punted.
The game remained a stalemate until Park Hill opened the door for Blue Springs South to seal the win with 5:42 to play. Grant Pella was back to punt and he put his knee down on accident.
That gave the Jaguars the ball at the Park Hill 22-yard line, but on the first play, Conard was stripped and Park Hill got the ball back with Chris Marshall recovering it.
That drive resulted in a punt and the Jaguars got the ball back with 4 minutes to play.
Trying to kill the clock with a six point lead the Jaguars ran the ball the first two plays on the next drive, but Chris Bizzle stripped the ball with 3:20 left to give the Trojans the ball back.
A mere three plays later, Peyton Sosna hauled in only his second catch of the year, this one from 16 yards out from Anthony Hall to tie the game. Pella, who downed the ball on the punt, booted the extra point for the game-deciding point.
South had the ball one more time but went four-and-out and turned the ball over on downs coming up short by a yard on a run at its 38-yard line.
For the Jaguars, it marked the fifth time this season they have played and lost to a Class 5 or 6 ranked team.
“I’m proud our effort, but it didn’t come out on the right end,” first-year Jaguars coach Matt Klein said. “Obviously a testament of our kids sticking together and fighting and fighting. Give all the credit in the world to Park Hill. Very good football team and obviously at the end of the day we got to finish. We just didn’t handle business down the stretch.”
The Park Hill defense again bottled up an opposition’s running attack. Blue Springs South ran the ball 41 times and gained only 61 yards.
The defense racked up five sacks — three by Wilson — while racking up 11 tackles for loss and recovered three fumbles. Miles and Bizzle had 13 tackles and Vince Reichert added 11 stops.
“The guys played well with their backs against the wall and we had our backs against the wall several times the defense came out swinging,” Hood said. “That is great mentality-wise and we can utilize as we move forward. We needed to see some adversity and we found a way to win. When you get in a slugfest with these kind of opponents and come out with a win, the kids did what they needed to do.”
Miles had the first fumble recovery, which led to a touchdown for the Trojans, winners of four in a row.
Down 7-0 after Blue Springs South drove down and scored on its first possession, the Trojans offense went three-and-out but Blue Springs fumbled the punt return when Sam Sweeney hit Luke Fellers and the ball was loose. Miles picked it up at the at the Blue Springs South 35-yard line. Darion Neal, who ran for 100 yards, added a two-yard touchdown run.
The Trojans then made it 14-7 when Jaylin Noel ran for a 2-yard score, capping a short drive in the second quarter. The Jaguars punted the ball into one of their own players and gave the Trojans the ball at the 37-yard line. A 30-yard run by Noel set up the score.
Park Hill travels to the North Kansas City District Activity Complex to face Staley, ranked No. 7 in Class 5 and 5-2 on the year.
Staley’s only two losses have came against Class 6 schools, Liberty North and Lee’s Summit West.
The Falcons have a 3-2 advantage against the Trojans this decade, including a 17-14 win last year.
“We got to keep rolling week by week,” Miles said. “We will celebrate this win a little bit, watch film and learn from our mistakes and get ready for next week.”