The Trojans were their own worst enemy when the Park Hill football team stepped onto the gridiron to take on Liberty on Oct. 8, as it made numerous mistakes and fell 35-32.
Whether it was a costly penalty, a poor special team’s play or a turnover, Park Hill dug itself in too large a hole to dig out of. The Trojans made a remarkable late surge, outscoring the Blue Jays 22-7 in the final 10:01 of the contest, but it wasn’t enough to come out with the victory.
“The guys did a good job fighting until the very end, but when you have that many mistakes, you are not going to win games in this conference,” Park Hill head coach Andy Sims said. “We can compete with anybody, but we need to get rid of the foolish mistakes along the way.”
Trailing 28-10 early in the fourth quarter, Kedrick Bell connected with Gavin Shaggs for a 65-yard touchdown pass and James Noel crossed the goal line for an additional two points. Liberty responded with a touchdown to temporarily suck the life out of the Park Hill District Stadium as the Trojans trailed 35-18 with 6:54 remaining.
Park Hill didn’t go down without a fight as it scored two more touchdowns in the final 2:29. Noel rushed into the end zone from the 3-yard line, followed by the Trojans recovering their own onside kick, and Bell connected with Max Filion for a long score with 56 seconds remaining.
Park Hill had all three time-outs left when Liberty regained possession and the Trojans forced a punt to get the ball back for one final play. Bell connected with Filion and Park Hill attempted a few lateral passes to advance the ball, but was eventually taken down after the clock ran out, losing the ball game.
“I think the kids never got down on themselves and we never got down on the kids. You have to make adjustments and we came out of the half and made those adjustments,” Sims said.
Park Hill found itself down by three possessions when the Trojans trailed 21-0 early in the second quarter and 28-7 later in the period. On the opening drive of the contest, the Blue Jays marched down the field to take an early 7-0 lead and the Trojans gave them the ball back at their own 8-yard line when Park Hill’s punter was taken down before kicking the ball on fourth down.
Park Hill’s Jake Powell (#87) and Marques Bell (#14) celebrate after a first half score against Liberty.
Liberty scored two plays later, followed by a Park Hill punt, and the Blue Jays added their third touchdown of the first half with 10:51 remaining. The Trojan offense responded with a 2-yard touchdown reception from Jake Powell, but the Blue Jays immediately matched the touchdown with a 75-yard kickoff return to the house.
“You can’t give up 14 points in the kicking game like we did tonight. We have to be more consistent like we were in weeks two, three and four,” Sims said.
The Trojans had another solid drive, but penalties backed them up, and Park Hill turned it over on downs at the Liberty 2-yard line. The Trojans forced a Blue Jay punt with 45 seconds left and Scotty Robertson knocked down a 31-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer.
Following a rough first half where the Trojans had 10 penalties for 85 yards, the woes continued in the third quarter as they turned it over on all three possessions. On Park Hill’s second play of the half, Bell’s deep pass was intercepted by Liberty.
Park Hill turned it over on downs on its next drive and then Bell fumbled on 4th down deep in the Blue Jays’ territory in the final minute of the third quarter. Despite the offensive struggles, the Trojan defense stepped up, not allowing the Blue Jays to score.
“I need to put us in a better position to be successful. If you have that many flags and give up that many points, then I’m not doing a good enough job getting these guys ready,” Sims said.
Bell completed 29 of his 39 pass attempts for 318 yards and 3 passing touchdowns, along with 61 rushing yards. James Noel added 61 yards on the ground off 12 carries.
Powell led all receivers with 12 catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, while P.J. Caldwell ended the night with 10 receptions for 94 yards. Caldwell also completed one pass for 44 yards.
The loss to the Class 6 District 4 opponent bumps Park Hill down in the district standings with two regular season games remaining. Park Hill will head to Lee’s Summit North (6-1) on Oct. 15, before hosting Raymore-Peculiar (5-2) on Oct. 22.
“The next two games are going to be tough and the game after that and the game after that.
If you are going to try and make a run at the state championship, every game you get in is going to be tougher than the last,” Sims said.