Drew Aggus
Special to the Citizen
PECULIAR, Mo. — On a rare occurrence of Thursday night lights thanks to Friday’s severe weather threat, the No. 5 Park Hill Trojans were able to squeeze out a close victory at Raymore-Peculiar on Thursday, Sept. 26.
The 13-10 victory, however, was rather unconventional, as Park Hill’s offense was limited to zero touchdowns.
DREW AGGUS/Special to the Citizen
Park Hill’s Javion Gathrite (5) hauls in an interception that turned into a 105-yard touchdown against Ray-Pec on Thursday, Sept. 26 in Peculiar.
The first two possessions of the game were fruitless, resulting in punts from both teams. And both the Panthers’ and Trojans’ second possessions resulted in interceptions, showing how closely-matched these two teams really were.
Ray-Pec’s third drive is when momentum finally shifted in the Panthers’ favor.
After an 18-yard pass from Conrad Hawley to Gabe Shanklin, Hawley tossed one to wide receiver Luke Grimm, a Kansas commit, who made an incredible grab for a gain of 40 yards. Just three plays later, Hawley threw a pass to Tucker Miller, who secured it for a 15-yard touchdown. Gabe Sappington nailed the extra point, and just like that, the Panthers were up 7-0.
On the Trojans’ ensuing drive, they were unable to respond, punting after just five plays. Following this was another possession for each team and another punt for each team. Neither offense could get much momentum, as both defenses were performing to the best of their abilities.
On the next drive, Ray-Pec’s Shanklin broke off a run for 44 yards, but was tackled at the Trojans’ 6-yard line. This set up Ray-Pec first and goal about halfway through the second quarter.
Hawley dropped back for a pass and threw it in to the end zone, where it was intercepted by defensive back Javion Gathrite, who returned the ball end zone to end zone for Park Hill’s first touchdown of the game.
“Thanks to God, I just saw the play,” Gathrite said. “I just caught it, and God just led me the way.”
The thought of taking a knee for the touchback never crossed Gathrite’s mind. His sole focus was on returning this ball as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, Grant Pella missed the PAT, leaving Ray-Pec with a 7-6 lead approaching halftime.
The next play for the Panthers’ offense resulted in another interception, Hawley’s third of the night. This time, it was senior defensive back Mikey Miles, his first interception of the season.
Park Hill coach Josh Hood knew that his team’s defense needed to step up, in order to make up for what the offense was lacking.
“Our defense plays with all the energy,” Hood said. “So if we have energy, then we’re going to be successful.”
The rest of the half was nothing but strong defensive stands and a whole lot of punting.
Park Hill’s first drive of the second half resulted in a punt. After this, the momentum seemed to shift back in Ray-Pec’s favor, as the team who was hosting homecoming was able to bust off a 27-yard run by Shanklin, who finished with 132 rushing yards on 17 carries, followed by a 23-yard run by Grimm. However, after a couple of offensive holding calls and huge sack by Gathrite, the Panthers were forced to punt on a 4th and 34.
A few plays later, Trojans’ quarterback Anthony Hall was intercepted for the second time. It was Panthers’ junior cornerback Gunnar Griffin who intercepted the ball in the Trojans’ red zone. The Trojans’ defense was strong, holding the Panthers’ Sappington to a 36-yard field goal, which he made.
It was almost the end of the third quarter, and the Panthers were up 10-6 on the fifth-ranked Trojans. An upset was seeming more and more likely if the Trojans offense couldn’t get something rolling.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, the Panthers’ defense forced yet another punt early in the fourth quarter, but just two plays later, Gathrite struck again, intercepting Hawley for the second time. However, three plays later, it was 4th and 5 for the Trojans at Ray-Pec’s 48.
The crowd was loud, and the Panthers were hyped up, but these Trojans were not about to give in.
The Trojans ran a fake punt, and junior Jaylin Noel ran the ball 48 yards for a Park Hill touchdown. Pella nailed the point after, and Park Hill took a 13-10 lead with nine minutes left in the game.
When the offense seemed to be getting shut down, Hood knew that the rest of the team had to step up.
“Last week, the offense held the ball for about 75 plays, and this week, we had to really rely on the defense,” Hood said. “We had to get a big play from the special teams.”
Two possessions later, Ray-Pec had the ball at their own 13-yard line with just over four minutes left in the game. The Trojans forced a quick three and out and were able to block the punt, but it was recovered by Ray-Pec, giving them one last chance to win the game.
The Panthers slowly marched down the field, and with 1:22 left on the clock, they faced a 4th and 13 at their own 37. Hawley was able to complete a pass to Miller, who had scored the lone Panthers’ touchdown earlier in the game, but Park Hill’s Miles, who finished with 7 tackles, was able to stop Miller before he crossed the first-down marker.
Ray-Pec (3-2) only had one timeout left, and Park Hill (4-1) was able to kneel it out to end the game and escape with a 13-10 victory.
Gathrite, who finished with 5 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2 interceptions, seemed more excited than anybody about the win.
“This is like a really big win; they’re a really good team,” Miles said. “Our coaches really prepared us for it.”
Hood further emphasized how important this game was for the team, not only in the district but also in the conference.
“We really thought this was a big one to look at; we really wanted this one,” Hood said. “We know that Ray-Pec’s a formidable opponent. We thought it was one of the best one’s we were going to play during the regular season, so it’s an outstanding win for us.”
While the win was an exciting one for the Trojans, Miles knows that the team can’t get caught up in the excitement.
“We’ve just got to keep on moving,” Miles said. “It was a good win, but we can’t just focus on this. We’ve got Fort Osage [next week], and if you sleep on Fort Osage, that’s how you lose.”
In an uncommon Thursday night game, the Trojans found an unorthodox way to steal a win on the road thanks to the play of their defense and special teams.
Park Hill will host Fort Osage on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.