KANSAS CITY — For the second time this season a second-half lead slipped away from Park Hill South.
The latest foe to leave Preston Field with a win was Blue Springs South, which rallied in the third quarter and pulled away for a 41-30 victory on Friday, Oct. 18.
Down by 10 at halftime, the Panthers rallied with two quick scores and took control against the Jaguars, who entered with only one win.
And then, just like that, the lead was gone.
“The whole game we were making little mistakes,” Park Hill South coach Alan Wilmes said. “We didn’t help ourselves any and we didn’t get any help. We got to play cleaner and better. But their record doesn’t show what kind of talent they have. They are a good football team.”
The loss drops Park Hill South to 4-4 on the season and the chance for the first winning regular season since 2016 hinges on an upset of Liberty North (8-0) — ranked No. 2 in Class 6.
Park Hill South showed flashes of why the team was ranked at points this year in the Class 5 poll.
The Panthers also showed why they were bounced from the poll after losing to a team with a lesser record earlier this year against Lee’s Summit.
The showdown with Blue Springs South showed some parallel to that loss.
Park Hill South led three times, the latest coming with a little more than 4 minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Jaguars (2-6) led at halftime, 27-17, but quickly lost the lead in the third quarter.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Blue Springs South running Nahshon Ricks (21) is tackled by a handful of Park Hill South defenders during a carry during a game on Friday, Oct. 18 at Preston Field in Kansas City. Among the Panthers in on the tackle is Torrin Ziegler (89) and Zach Schneider (40).
An interception by Ryan Owens on the first drive turned into points for Park Hill South when quarterback Matt Suchanick ran in for a 1-yard score.
The senior signal caller hit Nathan Sharp for a 22-yard gain on the first play after the interception. That moved the ball inside the Jaguars’ red zone.
After the second Blue Springs South drive ended in a punt, the Panthers went down the field and scored on an 11-yard touchdown run by Joe Inzenga. That gave Park Hill South a 30-27 lead.
The scoring drive for Park Hill South featured a first-down pass to Sharp and on third-and-7 from midfield, Suchanick ran for 20 yards. Suchanick, who passed for 276, connected with Gaige Warren for a 15-yard gain for another first down. On 1st-and-10 from the 11, Inzenga got the carry for the score.
The Jaguars engineered an 80-yard drive to take the lead back over the next three minutes.
Quarterback Max Conard had a 22-yard run and running back Nahshon Rick had a 20-yard gainer, which moved the ball right outside the red zone.
On 4th-and-6 at the 18-yard line, Conard found Cortes Essex in the corner of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. That was the third connection between the two.
The Jaguars missed their second goal attempt of the game with 7:58 left to play and the lead stayed at 34-30.
The Panthers couldn’t take advantage of the break and punted.
“We always believe we have a shot with our offense and defense,” Wilmes said. “We got to limit mistakes and do our job better. Play better football.”
Punting into the wind, the kick sailed only 18 yards and Blue Springs South took over at the Panthers’ 39-yard line. Six plays later, Conard’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Essex capped the rally and made it 41-30.
Conard threw for 328 yards, completing 22 of 36 attempts and his four touchdowns are one shy of his career high set in a win against William Chrisman. Essex had seven catches for 86 yards and the four scores.
Another correlation between this loss and the Lee’s Summit one was a crucial pick 6 by the visiting team.
Park Hill South and Blue Springs South were tied at 14-14 when the Panthers were driving. Just outside of the red zone, Suchanick avoided a sack and made a throw near the 10-yard line. Connor Edmondson jumped the coverage and ran it back 90 yards for a score that made it 21-14.
That was one of two picks for Suchanick, was 20 for 36 for 276 yards. He ran for a 70 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns.
Joe Inzenga ran for 82 yards to lead the Panthers’ rushing attack.
Brock Ivy had seven catches for 131, including an 80-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
The contest featured a lot more offense than defense. A total of 157 plays were ran and 952 yards of offense were rolled up. Each team committed two turnovers.
Dylan Owens had 11 tackles, while Mike Suchanick and Cameron Gillespie had eight each for Park Hill South. RJ Mitchell added two sacks.
The Panthers will look to regroup against a Liberty North team that is the lone undefeated Class 6 team in Kansas City.
The two teams are scoring 29 points per game, but the Eagles are giving up only 8.8.
The Eagles has won three of the past four against the Panthers, including last year’s first showdown as Suburban Conference Red Division foes.
“We try not to look at the rankings, we just want to take care of ourselves,” Wilmes said. “We worry about playing hard and executing. We feel we can play with anyone, ranked or not. We look forward to playing Liberty North, licking our wounds and getting back to work.”
Liberty North moved up to No. 2 in the Class 2 poll, which was released on Monday, Oct. 21.
The Eagle are 4-2 against the Panthers, including winning the past two.