Friday night football Missouri notebook: Staley’s second shutout silences Liberty North
The lightning scattered the sky near Greene Stadium on the William Jewell College campus Thursday, providing an abrupt halt to a Liberty North and Staley high school football game.
A day later, when the teams resumed in the third quarter, the story played out with the same underlying theme.
An unsolvable Staley defense.
The Falcons posted their second shutout of the season in a 21-0 win against Liberty North that began Thursday and concluded Friday.
In four weeks, Staley’s first-unit defense has yet to allow a touchdown this season.
“There’s a really good synergy among them right now,” Staley coach Fred Bouchard said in a phone interview after the game. “It’s a really good group. They rally to the ball.”
The defense held Liberty North off the scoreboard. And it provided its own scoring, too.
Staley senior linebacker Monterio Whiles scored on a 25-yard fumble return to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead in the third quarter, before the game was halted Thursday.
After it resumed Friday, Staley quarterback Michael Kilpatrick was the only one to cross the goal line, and he did it on a 79-yard run down the sideline.
Staley, 4-0, tallied five takeaways over the two days, including three interceptions from senior defensive back Gore Pitia.
Lee’s Summit West 27, Rock Bridge 19
In the first four weeks of the season, Lee’s Summit West sophomore Mario Goodrich has displayed a knack for finding the end zone.
The kicker?
He actually plays defense.
Goodrich scored on an interception return for the third time this season, helping Lee’s Summit West defeat Rock Bridge 27-19 Friday in Columbia.
The Titans improved to 4-0.
Lee’s Summit 32, Lee’s Summit North 27
Lee’s Summit quarterback Dalton Hill botched his first opportunity to lead a game-winning drive Friday.
He grabbed a firm hold of his second.
Hill threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Zach Mitchell with 12.3 seconds left, the game-winning score in Lee’s Summit’s 32-27 win against Lee’s Summit North on Friday.
The Tigers, 3-1, stormed back from a 20-6 halftime deficit.
Hill threw an interception with just over two minutes remaining Friday before the Lee’s Summit defense gave him one more chance.
“I just saw Zach had a kid beat, and I knew I just had to get it up and he’d get it,” Hill said.
Platte County 37, Park Hill South 7
After a four-point halftime deficit, Platte County coach Bill Utz said he challenged his team to play with a more physical brand of football in the second half.
The result? A four-game winning streak.
Platte County defeated Park Hill South 37-7 Friday. The Pirates, 4-0, outscored Park Hill South 34-0 after halftime.
“I really challenged them, and they responded from the get-go,” Utz said. “Once we got the momentum, they didn’t give it back.”
Justin Mitchell passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more.
Kearney 53, Raytown South 15
Kearney didn’t start well.
But it finished with a flurry.
After a five-point deficit in the second quarter, the Bulldogs scored the final 43 points Friday for a 53-15 road victory against Raytown South.
Marcus Harris ran for 268 yards and three touchdowns for Kearney, which improved to 3-1.
“First of all, if you rush for that many yards, obviously the guys up front were making holes,” Kearney coach Greg Jones said. “But he carried the ball with passion and heart.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Friday night football Missouri notebook: Staley’s second shutout silences Liberty North."