Around this time of year, senior student athletes become protective about their high school careers. They don’t want the time to come to an end with a playoff exit — and on Monday night, Fort Osage senior E.J. Gaines did everything he could to keep his career going.
Gaines caught passes, returned kickoffs, rushed for touchdowns and stole away another during Fort Osage’s 29-6 victory over Park Hill in the Class 5 sectional playoffs. Fort Osage remains undefeated through 11 games and will face Raymore-Peculiar in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.
Gaines finished with 17 carries for 100 yards and three touchdowns and also intercepted two passes, including one in the end zone that kept Park Hill scoreless in the fourth quarter.
“I knew I had to come out and have a big game,” said Gaines, who has made an oral commitment to Missouri. “As a senior, I didn’t want this to be my last game.”
Before Gaines’ highlights, the story of the game appeared to be the miscues by Park Hill’s special teams. Bad snaps and a busted field-goal attempt directly led to Fort Osage jumping to a 16-0 lead at halftime.
Six minutes had expired in the first quarter when Fort Osage forced Park Hill into a three-and-out series and a punt deep in its own territory. However, the snap sailed away from Park Hill senior Steven Clark, who alertly kicked the ball out of the end zone for the safety.
Later in the second quarter, after Fort Osage senior Nathan Hancock blocked a Park Hill punt, Gaines put the exclamation point on Fort Osage’s seven-play, 35-yard scoring drive. And just before halftime, Park Hill dug a deeper hole when another bad snap — this time on senior Will Brazill’s 30-yard field-goal attempt — set up a Fort Osage touchdown.
“All of those were game-changing turnovers,” Fort Osage coach Ryan Schartz said.
When the teams returned to the field near the end of halftime, Park Hill long snapper Connor Farmer and Clark spent several minutes practicing snaps and catches. Although Park Hill cleaned up that problem, a new dilemma surfaced in the second half when Fort Osage picked off three passes. The Trojans ended the night with six turnovers.
To reach Candace Buckner, call 816-234-4389 or send e-mail to cbuckner@kcstar.com
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