Kenyatte Harris continues to add himself to the discussion for the Thomas A. Simone Award — given to Kansas City’s best player — after yet another multi-touchdown performance last week. The senior running back upped his season total to 12 after three straight weeks of finding the end zone four times to open the season. The most recent touchdown binge helped propel Park Hill to a 49-13 win against Belton on Friday at Park Hill District Stadium. The running back/wide receiver picked up 94 yards on the ground on 15 carries.
Trojans senior quarterback Tyler Holmes finished 6-for-12 for 111 yards with two scores and one interception.
“Kenyatte just has a nose for the end zone,” Park Hill coach Josh Hood said. “What makes him so difficult to defend is his ability to line up all over the field and touch the ball in a variety of ways. Tyler did a nice job running the offense and using the run game to set up our passing game all night.
“We feel like the offensive line was able to generate holes all night against an aggressive front four from Belton.”
Harris scored on short runs of 1, 9, 6 and 1 yards, respectively. His final touchdown pushed Park Hill’s lead to 42-13 just before halftime. Holmes’ 35-yard pass to wide receiver David Taylor in the third quarter represented the final points scored and set up a running clock for the remainder of the contest — thanks to some big defensive plays from the Trojans’ reserves.
“We felt Belton was a very physical team that wanted to stop the run defensively and establish the run offensively,” Hood said. “Our defense was aggressive from the first snap to the last. Our second and third units came in and stepped up to generate some big stops in the fourth quarter, which was exciting to see.”
Park Hill senior linebacker Clayton Cole tallied 5 ½ tackles — a team high, and junior Dalton Basset recorded 2 ½ sacks.
Park Hill (3-0) travels to Liberty on Friday to face the Blue Jays in a new Suburban League Red Division matchup. Liberty previously played in the conference’s largest tier. The two teams have played each of the past six years with the Blue Jays holding a 4-2 advantage in those matchups including two straight wins of 38-0 in 2012 and 55-14 last year.
Liberty sits at 0-3 with losses to Class 6 powers Raymore-Peculiar and Lee’s Summit West and Class 4 District 8 leader Kearney. The Blue Jays have scored just five touchdowns total in the three defeats.
Raytown South 44, Park Hill South 43
The Panthers couldn’t replicate a Week 1 last-minute goal-line stand that lifted them to their only win so far.
Raytown South scored a touchdown with 35 seconds remaining last Friday on a pass to Henry Lanear from Jabril Cox. The Cardinals didn’t settle for the tie and went for the 2-point conversion and converting the try on a Cox run.
Park Hill South (1-2) running back Derrick Cook led the Panthers’ offense with four rushing touchdowns on 15 carries for 98 yards. Quarterback Schafer Schuetz also rushed in a score from 1 yard out. The senior finished his passing line at 10-for-18 for 48 yards.
Isaiah Hutchinson led the rushing attack for Raytown South with 178 yards on 15 carries. Cox finished with 94 yards on 14 carries.
The Panthers face Platte County at Park Hill District Stadium Friday Sept. 12. The Pirates enter the game 3-0 for the first time since 2007.
The teams’ most recent meeting came in 2009, a 24-7 win for Park Hill South at home.