Coming off a 5-6 campaign last fall, the Park Hill football team will rely on a talented senior class and have a dynamic offense in the second year under Andy Sims.
Kendrick Bell will be at the helm for the Trojans’ offense as the senior will be under center for the second consecutive year. The dual threat quarterback will have a variety of weapons, which includes a packed backfield.
“Along with James Noel, we’re going to have three other seniors in the backfield – Ethan Vandavan, Riley Dantzscher and Braydan Resch,” Park Hill head football coach Andy Sims said. “I know that sounds odd, but I’m excited because those guys are going to allow us to have the depth that we haven’t had in the past.”
For vertical threats, Maximo Filion is a wide receiver who has already committed to Northwest Missouri State University and Dayton Howard is a senior transfer coming from Savannah who will play tight end. Bryce Lisaka and Gavin Schaag will also fill out the receiving core.
“Those guys are going to provide us a lot of depth. Bryce has great speed, and he doesn’t lack anything in the wide receiver position and Gavin is a good athlete that can do it all; he’s a three-sport athlete,” Sims said.
Park Hill will have an experienced offensive line protecting Bell and the supporting cast. Chris Lydon, James Jakubowski and Pierce Wand are all seniors and were key pieces last year.
“The big thing is we have three offensive linemen returning up front. That’s always our big concern since we don’t have a ton of big kids, that’s what’s so important about the weight room,” Sims said.
On the other side of the ball the Trojans’ top guy is Teague Wachter, who’s a senior. Cal Netherton, Loren White and Daivion Hartley are some other names to look out for on Park Hill’s defense.
“Braelon Warren is a returner on the D-Line that we expect a lot of good things out of and next to him is junior Jim Humphrey, who played linebacker last year and is now playing defensive end. Then our biggest question mark is going to be in the secondary, we only bring back one cornerback Louis Perez and he’s a senior,” Sims said.
There will be a competition to fill out the secondary after losing all but Perez. Andrew Nichols, Brock Mann, Tommy Clark and Isaiah Bickers are a few of the guys who will be looking to make their ways onto the field on Friday nights.
Park Hill senior Kendrick Bell is ready to lead the offense this fall.
“Our boys are fighting hard; the good thing is they’re all going to see the field and get some playing time and the competition is healthy. That’s what you want to see, they’re trying to win their spot but they’re not losing that team comradery while doing it,” Sims said.
Park Hill has a pair of essential senior special teamers with kicker Scotty Robertson and long snapper Dario Peto. The Trojans will be senior heavy this season.
“We’ve got some seniors who are first year starters who I think are going to be good for us and I told the guys that the week one lineup isn’t the week nine lineup. There’s plenty of guys that will be on the sideline on week one who will be starting in playoffs or just halfway through,” Sims said.
Last season, Park Hill lost its season opener before rattling off four consecutive wins and closing out the regular season with four straight losses. The Trojans recovered in time for playoffs to take down Rockhurst in districts and then fell to an unbeaten Park Hill South squad in the semifinals.