Park Hill used a pair of first-quarter scores to put away Liberty North for their first victory of the season on Friday, Sept. 7 at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo.

After a pair of unsuccessful first-quarter drives including a drive that ended on a fumble by Trojans, the defense stopped the Eagles and then blocked a punt.

Quarterback Ryan Graves led Park Hill on a three-play, 54-yard drive when Graves hooked up with Payton Stanfield on a 50-yard scoring strike with 4 minutes, 17 seconds left in the opening quarter. Sophomore Tre Smith added the extra point and the Trojans were out front 7-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, by Jackson Austin, linebacker Carter Goslee recovered an onside kick at the Trojans 45-yard line.

Graves and the offense continued their momentum, with another score when the quarterback connected with receiver Jaylin Noel on a 38-yard touchdown pass. The extra point gave the Trojans a 14-0 lead with 2:39 remaining in the first quarter.

The lone score of the second quarter came after Trojans linebacker Haden Wallace recovered a fumble — with an assist going to Mikey Miles tackling the punter — in Eagles’ territory and brought it back to the 2-yard line. It only took the Trojans one-play to punch it in, when Corey Bradford plunged across the goal line on his only tote of the night for a 2-yard score at 6:41 remaining in the second quarter.

The Trojans failed on a two-point attempt and took a 20-0 lead into halftime.

The Eagles scored their lone score in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jake Van Dyne threw a 47-yard touchdown and placekicker Brady Pohl added the point after cutting the Trojans lead to 20-7, but that was as close as the Eagles (1-2) would get as neither team scored again.

Graves finished 14-for-20 for 121 yards and 2 TDs.

Stanfield had four grabs for 61 yards, while Noel had three catches for 58 yards and a score.

Van Dyne went 15-for-28 with 174 yards. Keshawn Turner paced the Eagles running attack with 21 carries for 90 yards and Aubrey Wood hauled in six catches for 125 yards.

Looking ahead

The Trojans travel to conference foe Lee’s Summit North for a critical Suburban Conference Gold Division matchup. The Broncos are coming in hot after defeating perennial conference heavyweights Blue Springs for the first-time in school history, 28-27, improving their record to 3-0.

The Trojans have defeated the Broncos in the previous two seasons once at home (41-21) and on the road at Lee’s Summit North 37-19 in 2016.

The Broncos enter the game ranked No. 4 in Class 4, the second highest from the Kansas City. Lee’s Summit West, which beat Park Hill in Week 1, is ranked No. 2.

The Broncos feature a rushing attack that has more than 1,000 combined yards this year. Running back Keyon Mozee had 320, while fellow back Ontario Russell had 296. Quarterback Christian Carter has ran for 260 and a team-high seven touchdowns, but ran for a mere 129 in three games.

The Trojans are averaging 156 yards per game passing and 126.7 per game on the ground.

The game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Sept. 14 at Lee’s Summit North High School in Lee’s Summit, Mo.