The Panthers’ football team pounced its opponents all season long en route to stuffing the Kansas City Suburban Red Division All-Conference Teams with 26 players selected.
Park Hill South Head Coach Alan Wilmes was selected as the Kansas City Suburban Red Division Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to an 11-1 record in 2021.
After leading the Panthers to a program record 11 wins in 2021, Alan Wilmes was the Red Division Coach of the Year. Park Hill South also had the Red Division offensive and defensive players of the year with defensive lineman James Williams and wideout Mudia Rueben – who shared the offensive award with Lee’s Summit wide receiver Josh Manning.
Williams made the first team on both sides of the ball when the senior finished the fall with 108 total tackles, 77 solo tackles, 35 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Rueben was also selected to the all-conference first team as the wide receiver carried a large load of the offense when the senior erupted for 48 receptions, 1,002 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season.
Two Park Hill South players were chosen as a unanimous first team selection: senior offensive lineman Ethan Hellebusch and sophomore Mason Love as both a kicker and punter. Love had 58 total points on the season when the special teamer converted on 34 of his 42 extra point attempts and eight of his 11 field goal attempts, with a long of 34 yards.
The Panthers had two more offensive seniors selected to the All-Conference first team in quarterback Nathan Ricco and running back Lucas Oitker. Ricco completed 104 of his 232 pass attempts for 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions through the air, while finishing with 158 yards and one score on the ground.
Oitker was the top rusher for the Panthers in 2021 when the senior had 177 carries for 1,047 yards and found the end zone 10 times, while also bringing in eight catches for 70 yards.
Senior linebacker Roger Guillory, junior defensive back Dylan Love and senior defensive back Elano Alvarez rounded out the first team Red Division selections for Park Hill South.
Guillory led the Panthers in tackles with 175 total, 104 solo and 71 assisted, in addition to one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, eight sacks and eight tackles for loss. Love finished his junior campaign with a team-high five fumble recoveries, along with 131 total tackles and one score and Alvarez had 112 total tackles, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Four Panthers were selected to the All-Conference second team with two players from both sides of the ball. Tight end Jack Bjorn, offensive lineman Liam Aldridge, defensive lineman Torrin Zeigler and linebacker Richman Wilson were the Park Hill South second team selections.
Bjorn played seven games and brought in eleven receptions for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Zeigler finished his senior season with 70 total tackles including six sacks, while Wilson ended his sophomore campaign with 64 total tackles, one sack and one forced fumble.
Park Hill South junior Briggs Bartosh dealt with an ankle injury and missed the final eight games for the Panthers, but he was selected as an honorable mention on offense and special teams. In only five games, the junior had nine total touchdowns – four rushing, three punt returns, one kick return and one passing – along with 53 receptions for 594 yards and 130 punt return yards on four returns.
Five more Park Hill South offensive players had Red Division awards as honorable mentions: the junior lineman duo of Grant Dunaway and Elias Contreas, junior running back Darrien Jones, senior wideout Hayden Klein and sophomore wide receiver T.J. McGhee.
Jones tied with Oitker for a team-high 10 rushing touchdowns this fall, and the junior finished with 689 yards from scrimmage. Klein brought in 19 receptions for 292 yards and two touchdowns in nine games, while McGhee had six catches for 38 yards in five games.
Eight Panthers were selected as an honorable mention on defense led my seniors Hunt Listrom, Nathan Hilzinger, James Holt III and Chase Fitch. The last four defenders selected were sophomore defensive lineman Kiros Martin, sophomore linebacker Damien Crawford, sophomore defensive back Jayvius Smith and junior defensive back Troy Mosby.
In their senior campaigns, Listrom ended with 51 total tackles and a sack in 11 games; Hilzinger had 25 total tackles and an interception in seven games; Holt ended with 63 total tackles and 19 tackles for loss in nine games; and Fitch had three interceptions, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and four defensive touchdowns in 12 games.