Park Hill South senior Kiros Martin (#9) holds up the football after he forced and recovered a fumble in the Panthers’ 39-24 loss to state ranked Lee’s Summit North .
KANSAS CITY – Having to take on one of the top teams in all of Class 6 is always a difficult task and the Park Hill South football team (1-1) was on the verge of a season defying upset win against Lee’s Summit North (2-0) until the game slipped away late on Sept. 1.
Lee’s Summit North set the tone early, scoring the first 19 points but Park Hill South had a favorable 1:20 sequence to close the gap. That started when Marcel Milner had a 60-yard interception return touchdown with 7:25 left in the half.
Park Hill South elected to onside kick following the score, recovered it and got the ball back. Although the ensuing possession didn’t result in a touchdown, senior Mason Love broke the longest field goal program record for the second straight week, knocking down a 55-yarder.
Park Hill South senior Mason Love, broke the program record for longest field goal for the second straight week when he knocked down a 55-yarder on Sept. 1.
“I’m sure glad that guy plays on our team,” Park Hill South head football coach Justin Poncy said. “It was phenomenal, that’s 55 yards and that kick looked like he would’ve cleared even more (yards).”
Although the impressive field goal made the score 19-10 with 5:54 remaining in the second quarter, Lee’s Summit North added two more touchdowns before halftime. Park Hill South gave up one of the scores in the final minute and headed into the locker room trailing 33-10.
The Panthers got the ball first in the second half, went three-and-out but Kiros Martin forced and recovered a fumble on the first defensive possession. Drew Paulakovich quickly connected with Kyle Dunaway on the next play as the senior took it 43 yards and dove into the left pylon, cutting the gap to 33-17 with 11:10 on the third quarter clock.
Marcel Milner (#22) celebrates after scoring his second interception return touchdown of the night at Park Hill District Stadium.
“The halftime message was, ‘hey, we have to take care of the little things and take care of those details that will turn into a big thing. We were fortunate to get a quick turnover after three and out, then we caught a pass and all that good stuff to put us in position to get back in the game,” Poncy said.
The next two drives resulted in punts and Lee’s Summit North started a drive deep in its own territory. Milner came up with his second pick six of the night, and all of a sudden, the game was within reaching distance with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
“He’s a fantastic individual and coming from the other side of the district, he’s a guy that you look at his stature and you’d say, ‘hey, I’m going to throw it at that guy and then after two plays, wait, I’m not going to do that anymore.’ That doesn’t surprise me at all that he had two pick sixes,” Poncy said.
Park Hill South Head Football Coach Justin Poncy talks to his team after the 39-24 loss.
Park Hill South entered the fourth quarter down 33-24 but couldn’t quite erase the 19-point deficit that it faced early on. The Panthers had two offensive drives that lost a slew of yards in penalties and gave up a late touchdown to end up losing 39-24.
“We found ourselves on first down getting the intentional grounding, then we’re in second in a mile and you can’t do that against a defense like Lee’s Summit North and expect to come out on top. In Class 6, you aren’t looking for moral victories but by the way we came out in the second half, got a couple of scores and kept the game close, that’s something to look forward to with our guys,” Poncy said.
Park Hill South’s schedule doesn’t get any easier, having to take on two tough opponents in the next two weeks. The Panthers head to Lee’s Summit West (2-0) on Sept. 8 and will host Liberty North (1-1) on Sept. 15.