Despite finishing with a 3-8 record, the Park Hill football team had an impressive season and has multiple players who’ve been recognized for their strong play this fall.
Park Hill was on the wrong side of some high-scoring games, averaging 38.6 points per game and winning a road district contest. After the year ended, the Trojans had six players on offense, seven players on defense, two players on both sides of the ball and a kicker on special teams all earn a variety of awards.
Senior quarterback Kendrick Bell came away with the most accolades after finishing the year with 45 total touchdowns and 3,812 yards from scrimmage en route to earning a spot on the University of Michigan football team’s roster for next season. Bell was first team all-state, all-district and all-conference player along with being the 2022 Thomas A. Simone Award winner, which is awarded to the best all-around football player in all of Kansas City.
Bryce Lisaka had an impressive senior campaign in all three phases, being a Silver Division Honorable Mention as a wideout and defensive back and being a second team selection as a kick returner. Lisaka had five receiving touchdowns and led the offense vertically with a team-high 63 catches and 638 yards receiving.
Lisaka didn’t play defense all year but filled in the secondary around the midway point and had some big games down the stretch, especially in the postseason win against Rockhurst – the game that he also had the go-ahead touchdown reception with 20 seconds left – when he had an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery. The Trojan returner averaged 30.5 yards on punts and 25.28 yards on kickoffs, combining for 386 total return yards.
Park Hill junior Gavin Schaag was a Silver Division Honorable Mention as a wide receiver and a defensive back. Schaag finished the season with 48 receptions, 494 yards and five scores on offense, in addition to 15 total tackles – six of which were solo and two of which were for a loss – on defense.
After transferring from Savannah High School ahead of his senior season, Dayton Howard made the second team in the Silver Division and the Class 6 District 4 Tournament. Howard led the team with 13 receiving touchdowns, while bringing in 45 receptions for 759 yards.
Northwest Missouri State University commit Max Filion had the same awards as Howard but recently played in the Hawaii Tiki Bowl and will be in the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl, which are both high school all-star games that the best athletes in the country partake in. Filion ended his Park Hill career with 44 catches for 775 yards and six scores this past season.
Park Hill senior Bryce Lisaka (#17) was a Kansas City Suburban Conference Silver Division Honorable Mention as a wideout and defensive back and being a second team selection as a kick returner this fall.
James Noel made the Silver Division Second Team as an athlete and the Class 6 District 4 First Team as a running back. Noel had 92 carries for 556 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, along with 48 receptions for 521 yards and seven scores in the air.
James Jackubowski and Ethan Hall were on the offensive line, being honorable mentions in the conference, while Chris Lydon was a first-team selection in both the conference and the district and Pierce Wand was a Silver Division Second Team player. Davion Hartley, Jim Humphrey and Braelon Warren were all Silver Division Honorable Mentions as defensive linemen.
Hartley had 19 tackles and one quarterback pressure, while Humphrey had nine tackles, three quarterback pressures, two sacks and one blocked kick. Warren ended the fall with 27 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and one quarterback pressure.
Linebackers Cal Netherton, Loren White and Da’Marrion Gathrite had good enough seasons to be all-conference honorable mention players; Gathrite was second on the team with 60 total tackles. Teague Wachter was a second team selection in both the conference and the district after posting a team-high 83 tackles, nine quarterback pressures, three recovered fumbles and two sacks.
Scotty Robertson was the punter and kicker this fall and earned a Silver Division Honorable Mention as both. The senior also was a key contributor on the soccer team but wrapped up his football career with five made field goals – including a career-long from 51 yards against Liberty – and averaged 39.8 yards on 19 punts with two inside the 20-yard line.