Park Hill senior Cal Netherton (#4) celebrates after a big play in the second half of the Trojans’ 28-21 loss to Lee’s Summit North - the best team in the state - on Oct. 20.
KANSAS CITY – In the final regular season football game of the fall, Park Hill (4-5) was on the verge of upsetting the No. 1 team in the state until Lee’s Summit North (9-0) found the end zone three times in the final 3:28 to survive 28-21 on Oct. 20.
Over the course of the season, Lee’s Summit North worked its way to the top of Class 6 rankings, but that didn’t faze Park Hill. The Trojans had the first score of the night and never trailed until the last 1:16 in what ended up being both a heartbreaking loss and a big confidence booster ahead of the postseason.
“I’m not into moral victories, but I am into seeing our team improve,” Park Hill head football coach Andy Sims said. “The litmus test here was the number one team in the state so we learned a lot about ourselves tonight. We need to find a way to fix the mistakes so we can get a victory in round one (of districts).”
Park Hill sophomore Sai’Quan Copeland rushes Lee’s Summit North quarterback Elijah Leonard in the regular season finale.
The Trojans were in a unique situation early, only having one offensive snap in the entire first quarter and still led 7-0. The Broncos had a pair of long series that ended up without a score, starting with a deep drive that ended up as a 98-yard pick six by Dante Dixon eight minutes in.
“He (Dixon) earned being a team captain tonight before the game from his work ethic all season long. He’s had eight weeks of maturation up to this point and he’s playoff ready and it showed tonight,” Sims said.
Lee’s Summit North got the ball back and got past midfield but turned the ball over on downs. Park Hill’s offense finally took the field with 43 seconds left in the first quarter and a short run by Alex Cook was the only snap the Trojans had in the quarter.
“It goes to show that he (Dixon) had a long interception, which means it was a bend but not break mentality. I thought our defense played their butts off all night,” Sims said.
In the 28-21 loss to the Broncos Gavin Schaag ended with 150 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
That series ended up with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Gavin Schaag to put his squad up 14-0 – which ended up being the score at halftime – with 9:28 on the second quarter clock. That score was set up on a 4th down conversion when Schaag completed a pass to Cam Jones and a facemask penalty added 15 yards at the end of the play.
Park Hill only had the ball for 4:47 in the first half, but still went into the locker room with a two-possession lead. The Trojans went three-and-out to start the second half and the Broncos marched down the field with Elijah Leonard rushing in from the goal line with 4:43 left in the third quarter.
Park Hill had a promising series at the start of the fourth quarter, but Teegan Turner’s 29-yard field goal missed just to the left. Dixon intercepted another pass a few plays later but the Trojans ended up punting.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do the things there at the end of the game offensively to seal the win but if we would have won tonight it doesn’t affect our next opponent. We lost tonight and it still doesn’t affect our next opponent, so we need to have two great weeks of preparation here,” Sims said.
Lee’s Summit North tied the game with 3:28 left when Leonard connected with Crey Burns on a 14-yard pass. Later in the next Park Hill drive, Schaag wasn’t expecting the snap and Kameron Durden jumped on the ball to put the Broncos’ offense back on the field.
Bryce Lisaka brings in a tough catch as he led the team with five for 58 yards on Oct. 20.
The best team in the state needed little time to take the lead as Leonard found Desean Bennett wide open in the end zone with 1:16 left. A few plays later, Schaag’s pass was intercepted by Chase Clarke and taken back for a score with 59 seconds remaining.
“All the intangibles about this team I love, but what I’m not proud of is how we finished the ball game. The first three and a half quarters were great but those last three minutes, we just can’t make those type of mistakes against a great team and expect to win,” Sims said.
Schaag – who ended the night with 150 yards from scrimmage – marched the Trojans down the field and tossed an 18-yard touchdown to Isaiah Bickers with nine seconds remaining, but that was too little, too late. The Broncos recovered the onside kick and knelt on the ball.
This was the Trojans’ first home loss of the season, and they’ll have to find a way to win some games on the road – being 0-4 in such games so far – in the postseason. Park Hill is the No. 3 seed in the Class 6 District 8 Tournament and will have a week off before heading to St. Joseph’s Central (7-2) on Nov. 3.