Missouri Class 6 District 4 preview

The Class 6 District 4 race will feature two ranked teams that could meet in the finals. <strong>Seeds</strong>: 1. Park Hill South (9-0), 2. Liberty North (7-1), 3. Liberty (6-3), 4.Park Hill (4-5), 5. Rockhurst (4-5), 6. Rock Bridge (4-5), 7. Blue Springs (2-7), 8. Blue Springs South (0-9) <strong>Bracket</strong>: <a href="https://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/DistrictTournaments.aspx?alg=19&class=6&district=4&year=2021"></a> <strong>Notes</strong>: Park Hill South is the only undefeated team in the Class 6 rankings, but are only ranked No. 6 in the Missouri Media poll. This was the first undefeated season in the history for the Riverside school. … Liberty North is No. 2 in the poll, falling out of the No. 1 spot after four weeks of being No. 1 or tied for No. 1 in poll. The Eagles have won seven in a row since opening the year with a loss to Bentonville – ranked No. 4 in Class 7A in Arkansas. … Liberty won five of the final six games after opening 1-2 with losses to state-ranked Liberty North and Lee’s Summit North. … Liberty North beat Blue Springs earlier this season, 42-7, scoring 35 unanswered … Park Hill posted a 24-23 win in OT against Rockhurst in Week 2. … Liberty beat Rock Bridge, 59-30, in Week 6. … Park Hill South is 0-4 all-time vs. Blue Springs South. Players to Watch Park Hill South: With standout running back [player_tooltip player_id="103404" first="Briggs" last="Bartosh"] out the rest of the year following ankle surgery, the Panthers have had RBs Lucas Oitker and DJ Jones step up, but the big standout on offense has been WR [player_tooltip player_id="96818" first="Mudia" last="Reuben"]. The senior has 35 catches for 735 yards and 10 touchdowns – for a team that has thrown 13. His top five include Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Arkansas State, Kansas and Stanford, though Rivals shows him with 19 D-I offers. On defense, Roger Guillory had 143 tackles and 5 sacks. Liberty North: The Eagles have beaten teams in a variety of ways, but had to pull away in the second half to beat winless Blue Springs South last week after leading 6-0 at halftime. QB [player_tooltip player_id="172248" first="Sam" last="Van Dyne"] has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes and enters Week 10 with 1,265 yards with 13 TDs and 3 INTs. He spreads the ball around a lot too, with five receivers with at least 100 yards. Four of those have 10 or more catches, led by tight end [player_tooltip player_id="172302" first="Justis" last="Braden"] with 19 for 329 yards and a team-high 4 TDs Liberty: If the Blue Jays can get RB [player_tooltip player_id="37448" first="Wentric" last="Williams III"] rolling early, that opens up the passing game for WRs [player_tooltip player_id="177054" first="Caden" last="Dennis"] and [player_tooltip player_id="177902" first="Ricky" last="Ahumaraeze"] – who have combined for nine of the team’s 12 TD passes. Williams has 1,218 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground and usually when he can get 100 yards or more, the Blue Jays have won. Park Hill: [player_tooltip player_id="177888" first="Kendrick" last="Bell"], a 6-foot-3 junior quarterback, has put up some big numbers this year. He’s thrown for 18 touchdowns and had four games of at least three passing touchdowns. He has eclipsed 300 yards or more three times, highlighted by 410 yards against Lee’s Summit. Rockhurst: The Hawklets have scored 10 points in each of the past two games, one a win and the other a loss. Last week they beat Blue Springs without RB [player_tooltip player_id="178003" first="Joe" last="Leggio"]. Senior RB Aiden Flood stepped into the starting role and ran for 104 yards on 18 carries. Rock Bridge: In the loss to Liberty earlier this year, used two QBs to combine for 254 yards passing and both [player_tooltip player_id="103089" first="Nathan" last="Dent"] and Sam Kaiser passed for at least one touchdown. Blue Springs: On a team that has struggled to score points, RB Kyle Bruce has been a bright spot for the Wildcats. He has three 100-plus yard games and leads the team in rushing yards (836) and touchdowns (7). Blue Springs South: QB [player_tooltip player_id="181615" first="Cash" last="Parker"] is the obvious player to watch due to his ability to post big numbers in any game. The junior has completed 117 of 239 passes for 1,376 and 13 touchdowns. One of Parker’s top targets is TE [player_tooltip player_id="103076" first="Luke" last="Seib"], who broke a school record for catches with 56 for 533 yards with 6 TDs. He recently got an offer from K-State, where his dad, Brad, played tight end in the 1990s under Bill Snyder. <strong>You can follow Cody Thorn on Twitter at @freelancingCT </strong>