Jason Lawrence
Special to The Citizen
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Down two scores and looking to swing the momentum further in his team’s favor, Park Hill South head coach Mike Sharp opted for the element of surprise coming out of halftime and went for the onside kick.
The ball squirted out of bounds just as the Panthers fell on it, setting Blue Springs South (2-6) with the kind of short field that led to the early deficit. The Jaguars capitalized on the drive, with a 10-yard run by Nahshon Rick, to go up 23-3 en route to a 33-3 victory Friday night.
“We were just trying to bounce some momentum,” said Sharp, whose team fell to 2-6 with the loss. “We’ve done that a lot this season in terms of pooches and onsides. Through our scouting report this week, we knew we’d have that edge.
“We went for the onside kick, which was really close, but we didn’t get it and gave them the ball right back with a short field. The defense can’t take that many snaps against a good team.”
A quick three-and-out to open the game by the Panthers gave the Jaguars the field position advantage early – five of Blue Springs South’s six first half drives would start in Park Hill South territory – and they took advantage as Rick opened the scoring with a two-yard run to cap a seven-play, 49-yard drive.
“We just can’t put (the defense) in spots like that, especially with field position in the first half,” Sharp said. “I’d have to look at how many snaps they took, but considering how many, the snap to score ratio was pretty low.”
A Panther fumble on the first play of the ensuing drive led to a 24-yard field goal by Shane Harper. Park Hill South then fumbled again on the kickoff return, but senior safety Hunter Johnston intercepted Jaguars quarterback Max Conrad at the 37.
JASON LAWRENCE/Special to the Citizen
Park Hill South’s Charles Warren, left, runs away from a would-be-tackler in Blue Spring South’s Ovi Johnson during a football game on Friday, Oct. 12 in Blue Springs, Mo.
A pair of punts led to another pair of field goals for Harper, from 39 and 20 yards, respectively, to push the deficit to 16-0. After the defense forced a punt with 1:13 to play in the half, the Panthers showed signs of life.
Senior running back Ta’Von Tusa went 42 yards on the first play of the drive to get the ball down to the Jaguars’ 24-yard line. The Panthers got to the five before having to clock the ball and send on junior Michael Verhoeven for a 22-yard field goal as time expired, which gave Park Hill South the momentum heading into the locker room.
“We went into halftime and felt pretty good,” Sharp said. “We just came out and unfortunately weren’t able to execute like we needed to. I thought our attitude and everything else was pretty good when we came out.”
After Rick’s touchdown run to open the second half scoring and a missed field goal by the Jaguars, the turnover bug bit the Panthers again as junior quarterback Matt Suchanick was intercepted on three consecutive drives — once by linebacker Skyler Meyers and on the final two drives by cornerback Trey Vaval.
Sandwiched between the interceptions was Harper’s fourth field goal of the evening, a 30-yarder, and an 18-yard touchdown pass from Adam Connors, who replaced an injured Conrad after halftime, to Isaiah Tauai. Vaval’s interception with 4:14 effectively ended the game as the Jaguars were then able to run out the clock.
“It was just repetitive, it was turnover after turnover,” Sharp said. “You can’t make those mistakes against a Class 6 team. You can’t win that way.”
Sharp would like to see his team cut down on the mistakes, which have plagued his team throughout the season, heading into the regular season finale.
“The biggest thing is we’ve just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Sharp said. “We show glimpses on both sides of the ball of being a really good football team and we just continue to get in our own way. We just challenged our kids a little bit to come out and have a good week of practice and try to eliminate the mistakes. If we get out of our own way, we’re a pretty good team, but we can’t beat the other team and ourselves.”
Park Hill South will host Liberty North (3-5) next Friday night for senior night. The Eagles, who lost 34-30 to Lee’s Summit Friday night, have won three of the last five meetings, including a 52-14 victory a season ago.
“It’s our senior night, so I’m hoping our kids will be fired up to honor our seniors,” Sharp said. “They’re a downhill running team, their defense is going to fly around and try and cause havoc. Coach (Greg) Jones always does a great job over there, so we’re definitely going to have our hands full.”