Park Hill South feasts on turnovers, beats Staley in district football quarterfinals

Turnovers came in bunches for Park Hill South in the Panthers’ 50-40 upset of No. 9 Staley in the Class 6 district quarterfinals Friday night at Staley High School.

The game turned in the second quarter, when the Panthers pounced on three takeaways.

It started with a Falcons pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage. Panthers linebacker D’Ante Wells caught the batted ball and took it to the house to tie the game at 14 at the 8:55 mark of the second quarter.

On the next drive, the Panthers recovered a fumble and took over at midfield.

Just 17 seconds later, Briggs Bartosh found Darrien Jones in the corner of the end zone to put Park Hill South on top 21-14.

With 49 seconds left in the half, sophomore linebacker Tommy Lisenby came up with another interception and took it to the Staley 5.

Bartosh ran it in on the next play and the Panthers led 28-14 at halftime.

“Our defense played awesome, they came out with a spark,” Park Hill South coach Benny Palmer said. “They were opportunistic and made plays. They work on it all week long and they finally got it to pay off. It was awesome.”

Park Hill South did not let up after the break.

On the first play of the second half, Bartosh threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Rogdryk Guillory and the lead was 20 just 12 seconds into the third period.

The Panthers went for two, after a penalty on Staley, and led 36-14.

The Falcons got a much-needed touchdown from KV Stone on their next drive. But Park Hill South wasn’t done airing it out just yet. Bartosh connected on a 53-yard to Mike Lane that put the Panthers up 43-21.

“You start up front — our guys were money up front,” Palmer said. “Briggs (Bartosh) did a great job, and the receivers got loose and made plays. This is a talented group all over the place. I love the fact that they’re playing their best football right now.”

With 11:57 left to play, Stone scored his second rushing touchdown of the night, making it a 16-point game. But on the Panthers’ ensuing drive, Lane scored on a reverse from 19 yards out to make it 50-27 Park Hill South with 7:44 left.

A touchdown pass to John Randle IV with 6:18 remaining, and another rushing TD with 3:55 left, made it a two-possession game, 50-40.

But the Falcons (7-3) could get no closer.

“ Credit to these kids and coaches, they did a great job,” Palmer said. “We had a great game plan. We’re exciting when everything is flowing, and right now we’re flowing pretty good.”

Staley needed less than one minute to take its first lead Friday night. A 71-yard touchdown pass from Cole Robertson to Abel Swope on the Falcons’ second play of the game put them in front 7-0.

The Panthers showed they were up for a four-quarter fight, answering with a touchdown of their own on the next drive. Bratosh’s 33-yard pass to Jacob Willoughby tied the game with 7:24 to play in the first.

Park Hill South (5-5) will play district rival Park Hill next week. The Panthers lost to the Trojans 42-35 on Sept. 30.

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