Staley scored three unanswered touchdowns and Park Hill South couldn’t fully recover in a 37-21 loss on Friday, Sept. 20.
The showdown of Class 5 ranked teams got closer late in the third thanks to back-to-back touchdowns by Matt Suchanick but the No. 10 Panthers couldn’t cap a comeback at the North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City North.
No. 2 Staley (4-0, 3-0 Suburban Red) posted a seventh straight win against the Panthers (2-2, 1-1).
Dawson Parks was a big reason why the Falcons won this showdown. He threw four touchdowns, three to Ramon Shelton.
Staley went up 2-0 on a safety after blocking a punt out of the end zone. Shelton caught a 15-yard pass from Parks in the first quarter.
Park Hill South’s Dominic Personelli, left, tries to tackle Staley quarterback Dawson Parks during a game on Friday, Sept. 21 at the North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City North. Staley won the game 37-21.
WILL WRIGHT/Park Hill South High School
Late in the first, Suchanick hit Eric Avery for a 49-yard score. The PAT cut the deficit down to 10-7.
Staley pulled away from there and built a 30-7 lead.
Parks hit Mylan Mitchell for a 52-yard touchdown on a screen pass and Dermont Marshall had a 22-yard touchdown run to make it 23-7 at halftime.
Shelton’s second touchdown was a 79-yard pass from Parks in the third.
From there, the Panthers played right with the Falcons. Suchanick accounted for two touchdowns in the third to pull the Panthers within 30-21 going into the fourth.
The senior had a 4-yard run for a score. He later threw a 12-yard pass to Gaige Warren.
“We made a few mistakes early and they will make you pay for it,” Park Hill South coach Alan Wilmes said of the Falcons. “They are an efficient machine. We felt like were physically playing well. We kept playing hard and kept doing the things we had coached them to do all week and we crept back in it.
“We got within nine and it was a battle back-and-forth. We had an opportunity and we go the ball back but some little mistakes here and there and we couldn’t capitalize on the momentum.”
Shelton’s third score, this one for 13 yards, account for the final score in the fourth quarter.
Parks passed for 154 yards, while Suchanick threw for 165. Staley had 381 yards of total offense.
Cameron Gillespie had 15 tackles and three tackles for loss for Park Hill South.
Up next
The Panthers return home to Preston Field on Thursday, Sept. 26 to face Lee’s Summit.
The Tigers are 1-3 but nearly upset Class 6 ranked Blue Springs, 23-20. Lee’s Summit also lost to Staley, 31-7. In that loss, quarterback Darrias Pearsall threw for 488 yards and the Missouri State commit followed up with 383 against Blue Springs.
In the first meeting as conference foes last year, the Tigers won 28-14.
“We are pretty evenly matched,” Wilmes said. “They have a great player at quarterback and he is a Division I kid and they have a good defensive end that has been out but we expect him back. They have good skills players and defensively, they are tough. Coach (Eric) Thomas does a good job of scheme and game planning.”