Park Hill football aims high; aims to win

Nearly a month before the Park Hill Trojans opened the 2014 football season, second-year coach Josh Hood gathered the team together to convey his expectations.

He cycled through players, positions and even coaches before shifting course to his big-picture outlook: an unbeaten regular season, a state championship.

It probably sounds familiar — perhaps even cliche — to powerhouse programs that compete for conference, district and state titles on an annual basis.

The Trojans were not one of those teams. Not recently. They finished 3-7 in 2013.

The prospect of an undefeated season came across as so unrealistic that Hood refrained from sharing that goal with anyone outside the program.

“We sure didn’t have that conversation with anyone else — any other coaches or the media — because they would think we’re crazy,” Hood said. “When you have a three-win team and you start talking about things like that, then you’re blowing hot air.”

Maybe even some of his players thought it was a bit crazy, too. Sure, they possessed some of the usual optimism that comes from a well-attended offseason program and the opportunity for a fresh start.

But undefeated? A state championship?

“You want to back your coach in that situation and believe everything he says,” senior linebacker Clayton Cole said. “You might have a little bit of doubt, but you have to have hope. The thought was, ‘Why not? Let’s just see how this thing goes.’”

Quite well, as it turns out.

Seven weeks later, nobody has wrecked the Trojans’ goal. Not yet. They’re 7-0 after a victory against state-ranked Lee’s Summit, with two victories against Class 6 teams.

It’s an impressive 7-0, too. Park Hill holds an average margin of victory of 28 points and has won every game by double digits.

Suddenly the second part of the Hood’s season objective — a state championship — doesn’t sound so far-fetched.

The Trojans have won the past three games without Kenyatte Harris, who ran for 10 touchdowns in the first four weeks. He is slated to return from an injury next week.

In his place, Matt Harris ran for 238 yards in the victory against Lee’s Summit last week — a credit to the Trojans’ backfield depth and an offensive line that Hood thinks is as good as any in the area.

“We knew we had the potential. It was just about putting it all together,” senior lineman Joe Tuimauga said. “A 3-7 season was tough. There were a lot of problems. It wasn’t fun coming out here every day. We wanted to come back with a vengeance.”

The seniors have begun referring to the team as the “New Trojans” — a moniker that reflects an offseason overhaul. Park Hill finished 2013 with a compressed roster after several players were dismissed from the team.

The remaining group — made up of nearly all underclassmen — took it as an opportunity to start building for 2014.

The New Trojans have arrived.

“We wanted to create a new aura about us,” senior wide receiver David Taylor said. “We wanted to make a new identity for ourselves. It was such a tough year last year, but there’s been a great feel to this new atmosphere. We have a new vibe about us.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2014 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Park Hill football aims high; aims to win."