Park Hill South rallies for the win over NKC in Missouri Class 5 District 8 showdown

It took little more than five minutes for Park Hill South to flip Friday night’s Class 5, District 8 showdown on its head.

Trailing 24-7 deep in the third quarter, Park Hill South stormed back and defeated North Kansas City 28-24 at Park Hill District Stadium.

For 30 minutes of game time, the Panthers looked flat. Their defense couldn’t stop Northtown’s ground game, they couldn’t get their own running game going, and quarterback Nathan Ricco was afforded little time in the pocket.

The Hornets charged out to a 14-0 lead. A 14-yard connection between Ricco and senior wide receiver Gaige Warren gave the Panthers a glimmer of hope early in the second quarter, cutting it to 14-7, but the Hornets ran away again to go up 24-7.

Nothing much was going right for Park Hill South (5-2), and North Kansas City (4-3) was chewing up clock.

“They do a good job of the option, and if you’re not doing your job at the option with one guy then a big play can happen,” Park Hill South coach Alan Wilmes said. “The quarterback is a great player, and he’s fast. But that’s what happens, we get out of position a little bit because of the option; there are three threats.”

Northtown quarterback Kail Williams, a junior, opened the game with a 50-yard touchdown scramble. Doubling as the Hornets’ kicker and punter, he accounted for 15 of Northtown’s 24 points Friday without throwing a TD pass.

And if it wasn’t Williams running the ball for North Kansas City (4-3), it was running backs Jelani Murry and J’Len Friar. Those two combined for 53 yards on back-to-back plays to push the Hornets’ lead to 14-0. Murry got the drive rolling with a 29-yard run into Park Hill South territory and Friar scored from 24 yards out.

But Park Hill South running back Dylan Love helped turn the game late in the third quarter. Facing second and long, the sophomore burst free and ran into clear space downfield.

He was dragged down from behind for a 55-yard run just shy of the goal line but got into the end zone moments later on a 1-yard plunge that made it 24-14. And then he went for 40-yards on the Panthers’ next drive to put Ricco in position to lob a 29-yard pass over into the hands of Justin Harrison.

“Dylan’s only a sophomore, but he is such a good player and a great leader,” Wilmes said. “If we can trust somebody on the team, it’s him.”

Park Hill South got plenty of effort from its defense, too. After Northtown took a 24-7 lead two minutes into the third quarter, the Panthers pitched a shutout the rest of the way, with two interceptions and the recovery of a pivotal late fumble.

“We tied it down — the kids started going back to what we taught them, and hats of to them for believing in us and working through it,” Wilmes said.

Ricco’s touchdown lob to Warren sealed the Panthers’ comeback victory.

“It was amazing, “Wilmes said. “We ask our kids to do a lot, and sometimes they’re thinking, ‘Why am I doing so much? Why am I conditioning so much? Why am I watching so much film? Why are there such high expectations?’

“This is the reason why. So when we get in these positions we’re ready to come back and we’re ready to finish the game.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 10:41 PM.