On the verge of two consecutive wins for the first time this season, the Park Hill football team (2-5) let a 12-point lead slip away in the final two minutes as Lee’s Summit (4-3) stunned the Trojans on their homecoming with a 41-40 win on Oct 7.
Park Hill senior Kendrick Bell completed 32 of his 44 pass attempts for 418 yards and three touchdowns in the Trojans 41-40 homecoming loss against Lee’s Summit on Oct. 7.
While the Trojans led for a majority of the night and never trailed by more than one point, Lee’s Summit quarterback Elijah Martinez rushed in for two scores late in the contest to pull off the Tiger comeback. With Park Hill leading 33-28 midway through the fourth quarter, Kendrick Bell led the Trojans down the field to add to the lead with 2:51 to play.
The dual threat quarterback – who had 474 total yards from scrimmage when the night concluded – ran in for a 6-yard touchdown to push the lead to 40-28, but the next time he stepped on the field, Park Hill was down 41-40. Less than a minute after Bell’s touchdown, Martinez ran in for a 5-yard score to cut the lead to 40-35 with 1:35 to play.
After Lee’s Summit attempted an onside kick and recovered it to get another offensive possession, the Tigers marched down the field and Martinez rushed in for another score, this time for 17 yards, with 45 seconds left. The Trojan defense kept Martinez out of the end zone on his 2-point conversion try but had less than one minute to try to drive down the field and retake the lead.
Park Hill made it down to the red zone and attempted a field goal with three seconds left, but the kick was wide left and Lee’s Summit survived. This was the second time this season that the Trojans let a late lead slip away as they also came up short against Blue Springs South (4-3) when Park Hill led by 18 points in the final eight minutes on Sept. 9.
The Trojans struck first in the contest with Bell connecting with Dayton Howard for a 75-yard score in the first 45 seconds of the game. After the Tigers scored to tie the game at seven, Bell completed a pass to Gavin Schaag who ran 63 yards to the house, but the PAT was no good.
The Tigers took a 14-13 lead with 1:09 left in the first quarter but the Trojans bounced back with another Bell to Howard touchdown, this time for 23 yards with 9:30 left in the first half. Martinez had a late passing touchdown and Lee’s Summit led 21-20 at halftime.
In the opening two minutes of the second half, Park Hill junior linebacker Damarrion Gathrite forced a fumble, picked it up and ran 44 yards into the end zone and Park Hill went back up, 26-21. The Trojans earned a two-possession lead when James Noel ran in for 23 yards in the same quarter.
Bell completed his passes at a 72.7 percent rate, connecting with 32 of his 44 pass attempts for 418 yards and three touchdowns. Howard led the team in receiving yards with 147 – along with eight catches and two scores – and Bryce Lisaka brought in nine receptions for 71 yards, while Max Filion had five catches for 95 yards.
Noel had five rush attempts for 45 yards and a score, while also having six receptions for 27 yards. The Trojans have now had three of their five losses this fall come by a one-possession deficit.
Park Hill will have a tough road to close out the regular season, starting with a Class 6 District 4 opponent next as the Trojans hit the road to take on Staley (5-2) – who is currently seeded second in the district – on Oct. 14. The Trojans will finish up the regular season at Lee’s Summit North (6-1) on Oct. 21.